A 70-year old newbie joins Mille Miglia, the prestigious road race set to take place from the 19th to the 22nd of May. It is the Mercedes-Benz 190 SL. Official papers show that – as tradition obliges – the 190 SL also raced in the original event in 1956. Mercedes-Benz is sponsoring the event.
A 70-year old newbie joins Mille Miglia, the prestigious road race set to take place from the 19th to the 22nd of May. It is the Mercedes-Benz 190 SL. Official papers show that – as tradition obliges – the 190 SL also raced in the original event in 1956. Mercedes-Benz is sponsoring the event.
The Mercedes-Benz history strongly coincides with that of the legendary Mille Miglia. In 1931, Rudolf Caracciola and Wilhelm Sebastian drove to victory there Mercedes SSKL – first ever triumph of a non-Italian driver. In 1955, Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson blew up the records in their 300 SLR.
Mercedes-Benz is sending dozens of automobiles worth mentioning in this year’s race: the SS and the SSK models will be there to hint at the era of the supercharged sports cars of the 1920s and the 1930s. Several 300 SLs, but also the 180 D, the 220 a and the 190 SL models, will be racing as well.
Last year, official documentation proved that the roadster took part in the original “1,000 miles” race of 1956, under the command of Michel Bianco and Jean Loup Pellecuer, with the contest number 347. They finished in the 121st spot, after 16 hours, 6 minutes and 15 seconds of absolutely mad driving along the 1600-kilometer (1000 miles) street-track from Brescia to Rome and back.
In addition to the actual Mille Miglia race, this year, a Mercedes-Benz Mille Miglia Challenge is set to take place, with a maximum of 60 vehicles competing. All the Mercedes-Benz SL models, from Mercedes-AMG and AMG, special and concept cars of outstanding technical or historical significance and all Mercedes-Benz automobiles built before 1986 are eligible to join.
