German

I drove one cross-country and did four straight hours in Nevada at 110 mph. With the car singing through its original mild-steel exhaust system, the sound is as unique as the rest of the car {vsig}2004-12_1540{/vsig} In the collector car world, there is no more immediately recognizable sight than a 300SL with its doors open.…

When Mercedes-Benz introduced their new range of cars in 1951 it included the 3-liter six-cylinder 300S model which was to become the basis of their return to motor sport in 1952. Rudi Uhlenhaut, the Competition Director, was obliged to use production components for his new sports racecar and to compensate for the weight penalty he…

{vsig}1997-7_1638{/vsig} The 3-liter Porsche Carrera RSR was one of the great long distance sports-racing cars of the early 1970s. Just 57 of these 330 bhp “evolution” versions of the already exciting Carrera RS were built, but they were successful beyond all expectations, winning every GT championship entered throughout the world. The engine received a secondary…

The Nationale Automobile-Gesellschaft (NAG) was formed from earlier motorcar and electrical manufacturing concerns in Berlin in 1915 and survived until the 1930s. It was then absorbed by a group which is still in existence today. The constituent companies had produced many different models of cars (at least one of which was used by the Kaiser)…

The Mercedes 220 series of the Fifties has the stately elegance and engineering integrity so beloved of this company from Stuttgart. The Cabriolet, the most attractive, rarest and most valuable of the series, epitomizes luxurious open air Continental touring on a grand scale. The Frankfurt Motor Show in the Spring of 1951 saw the return…

This intriguing link with the very origins of the Porsche marque precedes the launch of the 356, first publicly shown at the spring 1949 Geneva Motor Show. This car was built in Zurich by Hans Waibel, who in 1988 declared that he had show-prepared two Porsche coupes at the request of Ferry Porsche and Louise…

This particular 300SL Gullwing is one of the most famous of all British Gullwings as it is RYT 28, the press car, that was completed on the 5th of December 1955 and delivered new in January 1956 to Mercedes-Benz (GB) at Camberwell. This information is documented in both the chassis records and in Michael Frostick’s…

Introduced in 1971 and in production until 1975, the BMW 3.0 CS shared the same wheelbase and style of the 2800 CS with an improved Karmann-built bodyshell, a full three-liter engine (straight-six overhead-camshaft) and four-wheel disc brakes. It provided more power and improved torque, output of 180 bhp being recorded on this model and even…

{vsig}1996-8_1671{/vsig} Dr. Ferdinand Porsche had been a major influence in the development of the German motor industry since Edwardian times and yet the only car design to perpetuate his name was not, in fact, his own work, but that of his son Ferry. The basic design of this new car utilized the mechanical components of…

Ferry Porsche and Karl Rabe began work on the Type 356 project in June 1947. The concept was to put a mildly tuned version of the four-cylinder Volkswagen engine and its gearbox in a tubular space frame. Volkswagen components such as suspension units, steering and brakes were used for economy and reliability. The VW engine,…