Goodwood Festival of Speed 2011, a W165 Mercedes silver arrow warming up.
Chassis 449547 was the second of the two W165s completed for the 1939 Tripoli Grand Prix. It was considered the slower of the two cars and Lang was sent out in it with an unfavourable strategy. He nevertheless dominated the race and if he had wanted, he could have lapped his 'team leader' in the closing stages. As mentioned the car was only tested and demonstrated after its debut victory. It remained dormant for over fifty years and is still only very rarely seen outside of Stuttgart. Celebrating the 75th anniversary of the 'Silver Arrows,' it is seen here at one of those rare outings, during the 2009 Retromobile in Paris.
General specifications
Country of origin Germany
Chassis number 449547/2
Numbers built 4
Produced in 1939
Major wins
1939 Tripoli Grand Prix (Hermann Lang in 449547/2)
Engine
Configuration M165 90º V8
Location Front, longitudinally mounted
Weight 195 kilo / 429.9 lbs
Construction steel block and head
Displacement 1.495 liter / 91.2 cu in
Bore / Stroke 64.0 mm (2.5 in) / 58.0 mm (2.3 in)
Compression 6.5:1
Valvetrain 4 valves / cylinder, DOHC
Fuel feed 2 Solex Carburettors
Aspiration Two Roots-Type Supercharger
Power 256 bhp / 191 KW @ 8000 rpm
BHP/Liter 171 bhp / liter
Drivetrain
Chassis aluminium body on steel oval-tube frame with 5 cross-members
Front suspension double wishbones, coil springs, hydraulic shock absorbers
Rear suspension DeDion axle, longitudinal torsion bars, hydraulic shock absorbers
Steering worm-and-nut
Brakes hydraulic drums, all-round
Gearbox 5 speed Manual
Drive Rear wheel drive
Dimensions
Weight 700 kilo / 1543.2 lbs
Length / Width / Height 3680 mm (144.9 in) / 1510 mm (59.4 in) / 850 mm (33.5 in)
Wheelbase / Track (fr/r) 2450 mm (96.5 in) / 1340 mm (52.8 in) / 1280 mm (50.4 in)
Performance figures
Power to weight 0.37 bhp / kg
Top Speed 272 km/h (169 mph)
Auto Union and Mercedes W165 engine starts, LOUD!
Goodwood Festival of Speed FOS 2011, Auto Union Type C & D and Mercedes W165 engine starts. Awesome sounds, very loud!
Auto Union drivers: Nick Mason and Hans-Joachim Stuck.
Mercedes Silver Arrow W165
Chassis 449547 was the second of the two W165s completed for the 1939 Tripoli Grand Prix. It was considered the slower of the two cars and Lang was sent out in it with an unfavourable strategy. He nevertheless dominated the race and if he had wanted, he could have lapped his 'team leader' in the closing stages. As mentioned the car was only tested and demonstrated after its debut victory. It remained dormant for over fifty years and is still only very rarely seen outside of Stuttgart. Celebrating the 75th anniversary of the 'Silver Arrows,' it is seen here at one of those rare outings, during the 2009 Retromobile in Paris.
Auto Union Type C
Mercedes-Benz domination in Grand Prix ended with the Auto Union Typ C. It took a few years to get it right, but Ferdinand Porsche's daring design with a mid-mounted V16 finally won. It claimed many victories from 1936 to 1938 until the three-liter formula was laid out for 1939.
Horch, Audi, DKW and Wanderer created Auto Union with the help of Ferdinand Porsche and Adolf Rosenberger. Along with building passenger cars, a goal of the new company was to enter Grand Prix. They did so in 1934 with a daring mid-engined race car called the Typ A. This evolved into the slightly larger Typ B the following year and the Typ C was fitted with a much larger engine for 1936.
The Type-C was a third evolution of Auto Union's racecar. It primarily competed with Mercedes-Benz but also raced against Alfa Romeo's 12C-36, the Maserati V8RI and Bugatti 59/50. Type-Cs won six victories in 1936 and made Bernt Rosermeyer world champion
W154, 1939 Mercedes Grand Prix Racecar at Lime Rock Park Extended
The Silver Arrow last ran on a race track in the 1939 Grand Prix Season. This is the next time it has been on a race track since then.
This video was shot and edited by John J. Godfrey jgatv.com
VSCC Mercedes W154 Demo
In 1938 Mercedes-benz brought W154's to the Donington GP, 70 years later the VSCC bring one back driven by Tony Dron, turn up those speakers.
2011 Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow Concept
For the 2011 Los Angeles Design Challenge, which was seeking to find the most spectacular new film car for Hollywood, the designers from the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studios in Sindelfingen (Germany) and Carlsbad (USA), have joined the ranks of the screen-writers.
The designers at the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studio in Carlsbad, California have created a Hollywood-style homage for Mercedes-Benz to 125 years of innovation in automotive technology and design. The leading roles are played by two high-tech characters which have been instrumental in reconciling safety and stylish design in automobiles: the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow cult racing car and crash test dummies.
The film "Silver Lightning" is set in the near future, in an age of artificial intelligence. Two crash test dummies by the names of Hans05 and Franz02 take on evil ruler Dr. Crash-Barrier to save their beloved Mercedes Silver Arrow. They engage in an action-packed, nerve-jangling duel with the ruthless battering ram before finally outfoxing him. The Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow Concept is a low-lying sculpture on wheels. A feat of technical innovation is the diagonal, hubless roller which allows steering in all directions. The futuristic Silver Arrow's proportions are reminiscent of the legendary sports car from the late 1930s and the Uhlenhaut SLR from the 1950s.
Silver Arrows - Auto Union GP p1
Alain de Cadanet host this facinating look into the pre-WWII German Grand Prix team of Auto Union
"The German treasure"Silver arrow MercedesGP W165
Using Mercedes FIRST V8 ,only two of these small-capcity racers were built.in order to win the prestigious Tripoli GP.As planned.Lang and Caracciola crushed the Italian opposition.finishing first and second
Mercedes-Benz at the Goodwood Revival 2012
Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union racers from the 1930s took to the track for the first time at the Goodwood Revival between 14 and 16 September, some 75 years after the Silver Arrows first appeared in the UK.
All the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows that appeared at the Goodwood Revival are original cars -- each with extensive racing history behind them. They were driven by ex-DTM driver Roland Asch, Le Mans winner Jochen Mass, five-times DTM champion Bernd Schneider, three-time Formula One World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart and his son, ex-F3000 racer and team manager Paul Stewart.
Among the cars that appeared were the W 25 (1934), the W 125 (1937), a W 154 (1939) and a W 165 (1939). Power outputs range from the 254 hp of the 1.5-litre V8 W 165 to the 600 hp achieved by the mighty W 125. All were by far the most advanced machines of their kind with innovative suspension and drivetrains meaning they were highly successful and effective racing machines.
Packard Bentley - the 42 Litre "Mavis" special.
Footage of Chris Williams' Packard-engined Bentley special in the paddock on its debut at the Pageant of Power in 2010.
Footage of the Napier Bentley can now be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua-0wSn0azs
Please see my other videos for more of the same.
Visit www.oldclassiccar.co.uk to find more motoring nostalgia.
