Porsche/Mercedes T-80 LSR Car

[cegerer]

The recent thread on good Porsche books got me looking at my library and I decided to finish reading 'Racing The Silver Arrows' by Chris Nixon last night It's a gold-mine of information on Dr. Porsche's early years in motorsport. Although his involvement in the Auto Union GP cars is well known, his switch to the Mercedes Benz GP team in 1938 and 1939 is not. Germany wanted to set the Land Speed Record in a German car and on a German road. Dr. Porsche had a design already penned and waiting for production. Mercedes decided to build the car. It was a mid-engine design of over 26 feet in length. Power was supplied by a V-12 44.5 liter fuel-injected motor churning out 2850 HP!! It had 6 wheels; 4 driven wheels at the rear and 2 steering wheels at the front. Porsche calculated that it could easily exceed 400MPH. Unfortunately, the war intervened and the car never ran. It's in the Mercedes Museum today. Maybe the most unique Porsche of all time!

[Roland Kunz]

Hello

A major Problem that delayed the project was to make highspeedtires.

This was always the problem on high speed records.

Hitler would like to have seen all records in german hands to proof the german leadership in technology wich was equal in saleing goods in the export. And he needed money to finance
his plans. A other benefit was that the new technologys could be seen in normal technical applications in the next decades.

I had seen the frame of that car in the mercedesmuseum many years ago. I think they went to reconstruct the original car.

A funny not is that Porsche founded the Mercedes Race cars of the 30´s and even left "spys" like Krauss or Neugebauer in there while he joined with a wealthy Mercedes race driver to make his own company. That company wheren´t focused on race cars ( rather Volkswagen and Volkstractors ) but as things happend....

Grüsse

[cegerer]

Roland,

Also, Dr. Porsche wanted to run the car at the Bonneville Salt Flats. This idea was rejected by Hitler because he wanted the record set on German soil. There was also a consideration to race the car in 1947, after the war. But they decided not to do it. A very interesting time in automotive history for sure! -- Curt