Mercedes-Benz Cyprus (North)

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    Direct selection
    • A-Class

      A-Class Coupé, Saloon

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      The A-Class

      Between temptation and reason.

    • B-Class

      B-Class

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      The B-Class Sports Tourer

      Designed to fit your life

    • C-Class

      C-Class

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      The C-Class Saloon

      Experience a car like no other

    • CL-Class

      CL-Class

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      The CL-Class Coupé

      A masterpiece from Mercedes Benz

    • CLC-Class

      CLC-Class

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      The CLC-Class Sports Coupé

      Dynamism at its most alluring

    • CLK-Class

      CLK-Class

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      CLK-Class Cabriolet

      Dynamism at its most alluring

    • CLS-Class

      CLS-Class

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      The CLS-Class Coupé

      The technology of seduction

    • E-Class

      E-Class.

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      The E-Class Saloon

      See Mercedes-Benz in a new light.

    • G-Class

      The G-Class

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      The G-Class Cabriolet

      A modern classic

    • GL-Class

      GL-Class

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      The GL-Class Off-Roader

      Off-road driving with on-road feel.

    • M-Class

      M-Class

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      M-Class Off-roader

      Refined power.

    • R-Class

      R-Class

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      The R-Class SUV Tourer

      The new form of space travel

    • S-Class

      S-Class

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      The S-Class Saloon

      Looking ahead, driving ahead

    • SL-Class

      SL-Class

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      The SL-Class Roadster

      The legendary sports car

    • SLK-Class

      SLK-Class

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      The SLK-Class Roadster

      All you need for an enjoyable drive

    • SLR

      SLR

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      The SLR Coupé

      The rebirth of a legend

The blue miracle

Phoenix from the flames
The construction of the racing-car transporter had been a courageous and visionary project. It was topped by the plan to revive this witness to Mercedes-Benz motorsport history. Since very few drawings or plans existed for the transporter, all the detail features had to be reconstructed in a scrupulous design process.

Scrapping the transporter had been a painful loss – and a source of some discomfort for those responsible for the Mercedes-Benz Museum. This was exacerbated by the frequent arrival of letters from all over the world inquiring into the whereabouts of the famous vehicle – and asking if it could be viewed or even driven.

In-house research revealed that there were very few drawings and records relating to this vehicle. Some were stored in the Corporate Archives and some were the private documents of people involved at the time. Additional information was provided through verbal reports about the design and manufacturing activities. In this way, basic data was re-established, photos collected and a number of details came into the open. There were no design drawings available, however. The racing-car transporter had been built in something of a freestyle process – like a number of other one-off Daimler-Benz vehicles.

Eventually it was MIKA GmbH in Mölln, Germany, specialists in the restoration of motor vehicles, who were commissioned by the Mercedes-Benz Museum in 1993 to rebuild the racing-car transporter in true-to-original style based on the photos and basic data available. It was a challenge the company mastered in exemplary fashion. Almost 6,000 working hours were invested in the replica. Over a period of seven years, the steering and gearshift geometry was elaborated, the cable harness was designed, the rear windows in the cab were produced and the detail features underneath the sheet-metal skin were completed. One small detail gave the MIKA staff particular pleasure: the curved Mercedes star (the one from the 300 S and still available today) that once adorned the rear end of the original fitted the replica precisely. A small deviation from the original was permitted for safety reasons: the producers opted for the disc brakes from the 1989 SL for the front axle. As a result, the disc brake between propeller shaft and differential was omitted. All other technical specifications – engine output, axle configuration, transmission ratios, exterior dimensions, bucket-type seats and fabric covers, location of the rev counter, exact dimensions of the ramp rails and much more – are identical to those of the original.

When the replica was presented, one of the people involved in the construction of the original commented, "It's great to see it back again!"
The blue miracle
Moving boldly forward
Tradition of perfection
Futuristic concept
Star in the paddocks
Comeback
Technical data