Silver Arrows on show

Louwman Museum to display priceless Mercedes racers

A priceless exhibition of seven Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows racing cars from the 1950s is to take place at the Louwman Museum from 7 July to 2 September. The event is a follow-up to a special display of pre-WW2 Silver Arrows that the museum hosted in 2012, and will again have Mercedes-Benz’s co-operation. Of particular interest to local visitors will be the W196 R (above) with which five-time F1 World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio won the 1955 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort just ahead of team-mate Stirling Moss.

That race came just a few weeks after another famous outing for the team, when the pair took an historic one-two on the Mille Miglia, and Fangio’s 300SLR from that event (number 658) will also be on show.

Often touted as the most valuable car in the world – though the Andy Warhol BMW M1 Art Car must have a decent claim – the 300SLR ‘Uhlenhaut-Coupé’ will also be on show. It didn’t race in period, but was based on the W196 single-seater, had a top speed of around 180mph and was the bridge between Mercedes’ F1 and sports car glory.

Other exhibits will include the ‘Blue Wonder’, reputedly the fastest-ever race-car carrier. Based on the 300S and 300SL and said to be capable of 170km/h, the sensational cab-forward transporter was built in 1955. The exhibition will be rounded off with a 1952 W194 300SL, 1955 Gullwing and W196 Streamliner. Most of the cars have an extensive competition history, involving such famous racers as Fangio and Moss, plus Karl Kling and Hans Herrmann.

See www.louwmanmuseum.com for more.