Throwback Thursday: Mercedes 300SLR 'Uhlenhaut' Coupe

We hear the 'racecar for the road' cliche thrown around a lot these days. But in the case of the Mercedes-Benz 300SLR 'Uhlenhaut', that's actually spot on. Don't be fooled by the pretty coupe body; peel it away and Merc's mighty W198 300SLR sports car racer is hiding underneath.

That's the car famed for winning the 1955 World Sportscar Championship and taking Sterling Moss to Mille Miglia victory in the same year, with a road car body dumped on the top.

This car came about when Rudolf Uhlenhaut, the 300SLR's designer, ordered that two of the racers be put to one side and converted for road use. They were used in testing for the 1956 race season, but this turned out to be fruitless after Mercedes pulled the plug on its motorsport activities following the 1955 Le Mans disaster.

With no other use for the road going SLRs, Uhlenhaut decided to drive one as a company car. With its 290bhp 3.0-litre straight-eight, it'd do 178mph, making it the world's fastest car in the 1950s. Uhlenhaut was known to exploit that performance, too. Legend has it that when running late for a meeting, Rudolf made the most of the derestricted autobahn to complete the 137-mile journey from Munich to Stuttgart in just over an hour...

Here's a look at the priceless Uhlenhaut coupe in action at the Goodwood Festival Of Speed.

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