Restored back to full running condition, the red – not silver, or white – 125bhp, four cyclinder machine was cutting edge for its time. Now 100 years old, the car is on song as Andrew Frankel also puts an example of the racer through its paces on the Mercedes-Benz circuit at Brooklands for the October 2024 edition.
The Paul Daimler design had a troubled birth with various mechanical issues though, and it took then-new Mercedes employee to re-engineer the car for the tight and twisty 1924 Targa rather than the long, wide speedways which were just beginning to appear on the racing scene.
“Fixing it was job No1 on the to-do list of recently arrived Ferdinand Porsche – founder of the eponymous car brand – who kept the basic configuration of the engine but changed everything else,” writes Andrew Frankel.
“When he was done the engine had no more power but used a vat less fuel and was faultlessly reliable. He also modified the chassis, widening the track to prepare it for the twists and turns of the Targa. He did something else too, fitting new gear ratios that dropped top speed from almost 120mph to just 75mph, trading the ultimate velocity that would be of use just once on a lap – on the four-and-a-half mile straight that ended each tour – for the raw acceleration needed everywhere else.”
Motor Sport puts the 2 Litre through its paces
Craig Pusey
The changes made the difference, driver Christian Werner winning by 7min 30sec over Giulio Masetti’s Alfa Romeo on the treacherous Italian roads.
That raw acceleration that was key to the win is what hits our writer when he gets behind the wheel.
“Goodness the gears are short,” he says. “First is for pulling away, second getting up to speed, third and fourth for staying there.”
