Following the glory of 1954 & '55, the return of Mercedes-Benz to international motor racing was eagerly anticipated around the world, not least in Stuttgart. But when the machine and the moment appeared, it signalled the end of an era. Instead, the duty and honour would fall to two ex-Mercedes engineers:
Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher, from Großaspach.
Initially, the second half of the 20th century continued the tradition of the first. If the Daimler-Benz management or trying times precluded a works' Mercedes motor sport entry, then Stuttgart-supported – if not created & prepared – Mercedes would race in private hands. In that way a successful rallying programme had sprung to life at the start of the 1960s – discrete 300 SE saloons, running air suspension and full-works 300 SL engines. It was this spirit of hot-rodding that would provide the route to a Mercedes return to the track.
Erich Waxenberger was not only an engineer under the great Rudolf Uhlenhaut, he was also from the same mould – a great driver and motor sport enthusiast. In 1966 Waxenberger decided that the 300 S saloon could cope with more power. So, he shoehorned the overhead cam, 6.3-litre V8 from the 600 limo into one. When Uhlenhaut heard, saw, and felt the resulting road-rocket, he pushed it into production.
This Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 – the first 'super saloon' – made its debut at the 1968 Geneva show. And when Uhlenhaut and Waxenberger demonstrated it to the US press at Laguna Seca, 'Road & Track' declared it, “merely the greatest sedan in the world.” Convinced of the sport potential in the new car, Waxenberger prepared a private entry for the 6-hour race at Macau. The stock car – stripped of bumpers – shocked the competition, and Waxenberger and Poon raced to victory. The Mercedes' huge power and air suspension deployed to humble the competing Porsche 911s around the tight Guia circuit.
The game was on – this was the machine to herald the return of Mercedes-Benz – and the Daimler-Benz board approved an entry for the Spa 24-hour race, in July of 1968.
In an echo of 1955, three works Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 – resplendent in racing silver, and with a fine driver line-up – arrived for practice... but Spa-Francorchamps bit back. The weight and power of the Mercedes, combined with the relentless high-speed of the old circuit, proved too much for the tyres. An alternative was quickly sourced from a different manufacturer, but the problem persisted. Ever the pragmatist, Rudi Uhlenhaut made the call to withdraw the cars before practice concluded.
Unbowed, Waxenberger later chased-down the issues. The racing SEL grew flared wheelarches, wide alloy wheels from the C 111 record cars, and the engine bore swole to take the capacity to 6834cc. Through the early months of 1970 Waxenberger broke laps records in private testing across the venues of the European Touring Car Championship... but management refused to sanction a works' Mercedes entry.
This brief epilogue to the original Silver Arrows legend was at an end.
However, the machine and the desire remained.
Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher hadn't waited for the return to racing. These talented Mercedes engineers had begun their own racing programme after hours. And when the Mercedes 300 SE engine they built at home won the '65 German touring car championship, they knew it was time to strike out on their own.
The fledgeling Aufrecht Melcher Großaspach engineering firm set up shop in an old mill, and quickly became the go-to for racers and speed demons who demanded more from their Mercedes. And when the Mercedes 300 SEL touring car project was frustrated, it was obvious to Waxenberger that his old colleagues were the men to carry the torch. Equipment and knowledge transferred... AMG have got themselves a racing car.
AMG set to work to apply their skill and experience to the big Mercedes. The plan – to craft it into a Group 2 racer, and face the best the European Touring Car Championship had to offer.
AMG worked their magic. The 6.8-litre V8 was now good for a mighty 428 bhp. As much weight as possible was stripped from the big saloon, but the regulations required most of the luxury interior to remain. Even with aluminium doors, and glass replaced by perspex, the finished car weighed-in at 1600kg – 700 more than its rivals. The suspension was reworked around Bilstein gas dampers, to control the great mass and deploy the mighty power, but the machine remained a handful.
Painted in a striking and unmissable 'cardinal' red, and bedecked with sponsors' logos, the new car appeared at Spa-Francorchamps for the 24-hour race to be held on 24th July 1971. AMG had struggled a little to find interested drivers; and now in the Spa paddock the 300 SEL 6.8 looked so ungainly and preposterous, that the press and rivals immediately gave it a nickname – Die Rote Sau... The Red Pig.
The mood changed however when practice began, for this Pig could move!
The sheer power of the Mercedes more than compensated for its bulk in slow corners – and on the long flat-out blasts at Spa it was like a charging rhino.
For the 24-hour race The Red Pig qualified in a remarkable 5th place. A Chevy Camaro was on pole, 2nd place taken by one Niki Lauda with a BMW 2800 CS. Behind, the field was a remarkable mix of iconic and potent touring cars.
Race day – and from the off a Ford Capri RS 2600 grabbed the lead from 3rd on the grid, chased by the Camaro and the great, red Mercedes. After the first hour, attrition began to set in – Niki all ready in the pits for a gearbox change, others falling away. Through it all, and into the evening, The Red Pig roared through the Ardennes.
On raw speed the Mercedes was exceptional, but that speed and the sheer heft of the car meant that pitstops were more frequent than for lither competitors.
Through the midnight thunderstorm they raced. And by dawn the top BMWs were in the dead car park, and two Ford Capris lead from the mighty Mercedes. On they pounded – twice around the clock – towards the flag. And when the second of the Fords crumbled under the pace, the AMG Mercedes raced home in second place.
Second place, on debut. At a fearsome circuit, amongst a star-filled field of the best touring cars in Europe. In the Mercedes' wake – or broken at the roadside, or parked in the paddock – were the might of Alfa-Romeo, BMW, Opel, Chevrolet and more.
'The Red Pig' – from joke to legend in 24 hours.
The 1971 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps put AMG on the map. This brutishly handsome Mercedes, with eye-popping performance, serving as a prototype for future projects. Mercedes racers and speed freaks assured that should Stuttgart not have the machine for the job, AMG would be right there.
The future was less rosy for The Red Pig. A change in regulations rendered it unraceable in 1972. Instead, to recoup costs, AMG sold it to the French aviation company, Matra. There it was worked hard, to destruction. Its role – suspension and tyre testing for Mirage jet fighters! As with much of Mercedes racing history, the legend of The Red Pig grew and grew across decades. And that is no surprise. It's a tale of persistence, hard work, brilliant engineering, and the ache to race as grand as any in the marque's history.
Today, exact replicas of that first car rumble and roar to entertain fans new and old. Those who remember, and those yet to learn, that you discount a Mercedes racing car at your peril... no matter how outrageous, how improbable it may seem.