Mercedes to Bring ’60 Years’ of Benzes to Swiss Rally, July 5

Pro racer Karl Wendlinger will drive a race version Mercedes-Benz 190 SL at the Silvretta Classic Rally Montafon 2018 in Switzerland.

Mercedes-Benz will be represented at the Silvretta Classic Rally Montafon 2018, July 5-7, by some of their most iconic roadsters and sports cars from the last six decades. The star of the show will be a black 300 SL “Gullwing” (W 198) that will be driven by Magnus Walker, aka “Urban Outlaw,” fashion designer, sports car collector and author. 

Sportiness is in the DNA of each generation of the Mercedes-Benz SL. At the Silvretta Classic Rally Montafon this year, Mercedes-Benz  will recall this tradition with four very different sports cars: a 300 SL “ Gullwing” (W 198), the racing version of the 190 SL (W 121), a 230 SL (W 113) in the style of the rally vehicle of Eugen Böhringer from the early 1960s and a 500 SLC Coupé (C 107). The Stuttgart brand will line up with a total of eight classic cars from the company’s own collection and from All Time Stars, the vehicle trading platform of Mercedes-Benz Classic.

The birth of the SL tradition from the spirit of racing was marked by the 300 SL “Gullwing” (W 198). The coupé with the characteristic doors made its debut in 1954. Based on the 300 SL racing car (W 194) from 1952, the production version ranked at the time as a super sports car. The racing triumphs of the “Gullwing Coupé” include a class victory in the 1955 1000 Miglia.

Racing driver and Mercedes-AMG brand ambassador Karl Wendlinger (pictured above) will drive a racing version of the Mercedes-Benz 190 SL (W 121) at the Silvretta Classic. The vehicle is based on the rare racing version of the 190 SL from 1955 with windowless, aluminium doors, a smaller windscreen and other modifications.

Nicknamed “ Pagoda” by the fans, the 230 SL (W 113) dates from the 1960s, and was responsible for Böhringer’s legendary victory at the 1963 Spa–Sofia—Liège long-distance rally. One year later, he finished third.

Christian Boucke, Head of Mercedes-Benz Classic, will compete in the rally at the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz 500 SLC (C 107). The 500 SLC, which was built from 1980 until 1981, is the top-of-the-line model of the coupés based on the SL roadsters of the R 107 model series. At the Silvretta Classic, the vehicle will also represent Mercedes-Benz’s rally successes of the late 1970s with various models of the C 107 series.

Since 1998, the Silvretta Classic is now well on its way to becoming a classic itself. This year, some 180 dream cars will line up on the grid to explore heavenly Alpine roads in Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The program kicks off this July with accreditation, technical inspection and a rally course covering theory and practice. The start and finishing lines are in Partenen, Gaschurn and Schruns. The route highlights include Bieler Höhe, the Albula pass, Faschinajoch and the Flexen pass.

Take a look at all the Mercedes-Benz Classic vehicles that will debut at the Slivretta Classic on the next page.

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