It takes a high level of automotive experience and skill to restore and maintain the classic cars of Formula One. The teams just don’t make ‘em like they used to and engineers are forced to turn back the clock more than 60 years to design some replacement components.
Mercedes-Benz Classic had a special task for the Mercedes Formula One engineers at their factory in Brixworth. Peter McKinlay, the Team Leader Mechanical a Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains, and Chris Scott, a Skilled Machinist for Mercedes AMG High Performance, offer some insight on the challenges of reproducing some inlet exhaust valves for the legendary Mercedes-Benz W196.
The W196 was the car which guided Juan Manuel Fangio to two consecutive World Championship titles in 1954 and 1955. The car was designed by Rudolf Uhlenhaut, an Anglo-German engineer for Mercedes, for the team’s Formula One campaign and successful won 9 of the 12 races in which it raced. The car led to the development of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR for sports car racing. The W196 also included a streamlined alternate body which was used in the French, British and Italian Grand Prix. The car made history during an auction in 2013 when the Mercedes-Benz W196R chassis was sold for a record breaking €26.5 million.
