01.08.2017New exclusive models: Mercedes-Benz Formula 1

Sebastian Vettel left Hungary on Sunday with a full 14 points lead in the current driver's ranking, thus holding the already legendary two-man battle against Lewis Hamilton further exciting. After all, there are nine Grand Prix to be played after the summer break and starting with Spa-Francorchamps. The race cars with which Mercedes-Benz contested Formula One races in 1954, among other things, are the result of a new series of models, which is highly acclaimed in professional circles. The prototype is the W 196 racing car, which was driven by Hans Herrmann in the case of the miniature shown here. A total of four models appear: one in Plainbody version without driver assignment and two more besides Herrmann to the drivers Juan-Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling. Hermann Lang is still missing the model.

It was the beginning of the modern Formula One, in which it was still called the Auto World Championship. After the war Mercedes-Benz returned to the royal class of motorsport only in the middle of 1954 and brought with the W 196 a car, which went as a monoposto with free-standing wheels and as a streamliner. This is the model for the Modellautos of Classic Model Replicars or CMR for short, the finish and the look of the racing cars with the star perfectly. The cars were driven by an eight-cylinder, eight-cylinder cylinder that passed the 189 kW / 257 hp to the five-speed transmission and the rear axle via a so-called center drive; The engine was thus divided into two four-cylinder blocks. Advantage: A long crankshaft, which is more susceptible to twisting, was avoided.

New technology led to success

A special feature of the W 196 was the completely new gasoline direct injection. Mercedes-Benz followed the pre-war custom with the streamlined bodywork, which brought advantages on fast courses like the Avus in Berlin, but was considered too heavy and confusing on narrow routes. There the monoposto was used, which with 650 kg of its 50 was lighter than the Stromlinwagen. At the top speed, the W 196 was 280 kilometers per hour. There was no constructural evaluation at the time: Fangio secured the lead in the driver's world championship with 42 points and gave Mercedes-Benz a title right in the first year of the comeback.

Click here to view the W 196 in 1:18 of CMR