Mercedes 2-Liter Targa Florio Kompressor Rennwagen

A mountain course with narrow streets and more than 7,000 curves at the gates of Palermo on Sicily in Italy: this is the Targa Florio. It is one of the most popular and challenging street races, especially in the first half of the last century. In 1924 one lap is 108 kilometers long. Four of them are to be driven for the Targa Florio, another one is scheduled for the Coppa Florio, a total of 540 kilometers.

Based on the Indianapolis car from 1923, Ferdinand Porsche developed this Mercedes 2-liter supercharged racing car. Contrary to the regulations for the coloring of the racing car depending on the nationality, the Mercedes racing car was painted red instead of white, the official German color. This happens shortly before the start of the Targa Florio in 1924. With this trick, Mercedes was able to successfully prevent the vehicles from being pelted with stones or otherwise obstructed by the Italian fans. So much for the story told by Mercedes and also by CMC.

It is astonishing that all Mercedes 2-liter supercharged racing cars drove off in red when they left Untertürkheim for Sicily (no racing transporters existed yet). A fender, horn and license plate were essential for the use of streets.