Documents: French Certificat d'Immatriculation


Chassis No.

198.042.7500168


Engine No.

198.980.7500202


Body No.

A198.042.7500104



Mercedes-Benz's return to competition after the Second World War produced one of the greatest origin stories in the marque's history.

Engineers built the W194 race cars around a lightweight tubular space frame, a departure from conventional body-on-frame construction that gave the cars their competitive edge and, later, their name.

The W194 claimed an outright victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1952, with Hermann Lang and Fritz Riess sharing the winning car, and Karl Kling went on to dominate that year's grueling Carrera Panamericana in a sister example.

Those results convinced the factory that a roadgoing version could succeed with American buyers.

Max Hoffman, the New York-based importer who would go on to talk Porsche into building the 356 Speedster and BMW into the 507, pressed Mercedes-Benz to build it.

The result, unveiled in Febr...