Only three Photos!
The Swabian car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz conceived the desire to compete in the race ‘Grand Prix of Monza’ on September 7, 1924. Back then this sporting event was a great challenge for both, man and machine. All renowned European manufacturers considered a successful performance at the race as a first-class proof of their vehicles. For Mercedes it was the first participation in a Grand Prix since end of World War I. The importance of the Swabian’s participation was underlined by the fact that the designer Ferdinand Porsche, who had only been working at the factory for a year, especially designed and built an M 218 race car with a 2-litre, eight-cylinder engine for this Grand Prix.
Perhaps the technique was so complex that travelling on its own axles was considered too vulnerable. It is no longer clear what motives finally led to the construction of a special transporter for the carriage of the race car. For the – presumably – only converted vehicle for this purpose, the Swabian engineers used a Mercedes ‘15/70/100 PS’. The conversion was focused on the rear area of the car. The car body starting from the driver’s seat row was removed and instead of the standard rear area and the trunk, a substructure made of wooden beams and planks was installed, on which the race car could be transported safely. The gap between the loading ramps was so wide that the complete race car body easily fit through. Four wedges fixed the loaded racer at its wheels on its way to Italy.
The men at the ‘Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft’ were aware of the importance of their newly created race car transporter and had it photographed for their company history. A total of only three photographs with the loaded race car are the contemporary testimonies of the important innovation. To the present day there is no more left of the race transporter than these three pictures.
