The Heroes Of Racing No.9---The Mercedes 300SEL 'Rote Sau'---When Luxo-Barges Went Racing...

‘A Luxo-Barge going racing? Surely, the maniacs who thought this was a good idea….Are absolute Maniacs, right?’ One might think as they read this title.
Well, yes, I’d agree with you…But then you go over the name ‘AMG’, a name that is associated with Mercedes’ Tuning Arm who have a propensity of making run-of-the-mill cars….Not so run-of-the-mill.
Also denoting that they have a few screws loose.

I could tell you all about AMG’s story, but seeing as someone recently did(RavenKnowWho, plus a link to that somewhere…Below), I’ve only decided to give a very simplified variant, since story-telling is not my job. AMG, or Aufrecht Melcher Grossaspach, began with Hans Werner Aulfrecht and Erhard Melcher. The two were ex-Mercedes engineers who knew the inner workings of Mercedes-Benz cars at a masterful level. As Stuttgart alumni, they eventually took to tuning existing Mercedes’ and went racing on the weekends to discover the ‘true’ limits of performance…Or whatever passed for it, I suppose. The first professionally raced car by the pair? Well, that was the AMG(Look, even the acronym is here!) 300 SEL 6.8, affectionately known as ‘The Red Pig’.

In the ‘70’s, Track Racing was dominated by small and nimble machines, like Ford Capris, BMW CSs, and Alfa Romeo GTAs, and the chance of seeing a Large Sedan trying to keep up was nearly non-existent, due to the abundant use of really heavy Steel, making these Sedans the antithesis of a successful racer(i.e, good handling, easy on fuel and tyres, lightweight?). The 300SEL then, was no exception. We all know that the principal for success in endurance racing has always been: less time spent in pits means more laps on the track, which earns a better shot at victory. But the SEL, guzzled gas so fast it made oil rig fires look economical. A sad attribute of something that weighs both as much as a small hill, and has a engine bigger than some of our futures. It even ate tyres nearly just as quickly.

The 300 SEL would usually have a 2.8-litre Straight-Six producing a fairly Paltry 170 hp, Paltry in the sense that the whole Barge of a thing weighed around 1765 kilos. Then, when the range-topping 600’s 247 hp V8 was stuffed into it by a company engineer named Erich Waxenberger on the basis of ‘Lets see what happens’, What eventually happened was the 300 SEL 6.3: the world’s fastest sedan at the time, clocking a 0-60 in 6.3 seconds and a top speed of 142 mph: the perfect foundation for Aufrecht and Melcher to build upon.

What they did to the engine was…Well, do it the only way possible without turbocharging or something, which was…. Fit new camshafts, rocker arms, piston heads, intakes, exhaust, along with anything that could make more power bolted on. What they ended up with was an unprecedented 428 horsepower and 448 lb-ft of twist. That power was a necessity. Having retained the rear bench seats, air suspension, panel doors and elegant wood trim, the Red Pig was one of the most luxurious race cars on track — but also one of the heaviest. Even after the installation of Aluminium doors, the whole barge still weighed 3604 pounds(Around 1635 kilos), or around 280 pounds less than it originally did. Even then, it was an overweight challenger.

Going into 1971’s 24 Hours of Spa, everyone else thought AMG were going to fall completely flat in a dismal display of…Results. And judging by the recipe they’d intended on using, they’d be correct…Except, It won 1st in its Class and Second Overall. Of course, frequent refueling was needed since it basically drank gas at a rate that would probably make an oil rig fire look economical, and chewed through tyres like there was an infinite supply. Later on, they proceeded to make 5 cars in total, 2 test cars, and three racers. Or at least, something like that. The Red Pig, last time anyone bothered to check, now resides in a museum somewhere in Finland. By this time, you should probably know how the story ended, so I won’t continue on that any further.

…And that’s about all I have for the 300 SEL 6.8 ‘Rote Sau’. The car that put AMG on the map, and give it the fame and opportunities to work with Mercedes themselves. A Luxo-Barge that pulled off the absolute impossible. Truly, those two people had many a screw loose.

Feel free to leave more information, overlooked details, your thoughts on this machine, suggestions for the next article down in the comments below, and I hoped you enjoyed it.

See you at the next one.

[Writers’ Note: Hey guys, if you’re here, then, again, Thanks for sticking around. Be it casual readers or long-term ones, thanks for all the support thus far. So, the Heroes Of Racing Series is back! Your eyes do not deceive you, readers. I finally found something to cover.
On to the Pig. Well, this was interesting to read about when first writing this. I never expected to see a Luxo-Barge going racing, much less in the Oil-Conscious 70’s, and honestly, without this, I think we might have had a world with none of AMG’s later works like the SL73, SLS and many more mental-machines would have been made. Be thankful it did come along. Anyways, the next Heroes Of Racing article…Might be in a while. I really don’t quite know what to cover, but if you’d all like, I could cover the Opel Ascona 400. Tell me what you want. I’ll add them to a small list. Anyway, I’ll cut this short now before I begin writing in a Feeble Attempt to bring word counts up.

Anyway, stay tuned for the next one,though whichever series it might be I’m not sure yet.. Leave whatever I’ve mentioned earlier down in the comments if needed, and if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to my studies.

Hoped you Enjoyed it, and I’ll see you at the next one.

Thanks Again—-Joel.]