It was flown from its home in Germany to Kuwait this past February in order to take part in the country’s Concours d'Elegance (see more on p.XX).
It is owned by the Mercedes-Benz Museum, which has an extraordinary collection of Mercs, including every model ever produced as well as all the legendary works ‘Silver Arrow’ racing cars.
The Uhlenhaut Coupé is essentially a 1955 Mercedes-Benz W196 Formula One car built into an enlarged chassis with an enclosed, two-seater body.
Only two were ever built, both in silver. You can tell them apart only by their interior trim: one has a red leather interior, the other has a blue one.
It has the exact same engine as the Formula One car, namely a 3.0-litre, straight eight-cylinder engine with 310 horsepower. Given a weight of less than a tonne you can see why it was the fastest closed roof vehicle of its time,
It is named after the former head of vehicle development and creator of the 300 SLR, engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut, who used the two cars as his daily drivers, regularly hitting 285 km/h on his Autobahn runs.
The car was designed to win the 1956 Le Mans 24 Hours but it never took part because the factory suddenly withdrew from motor racing late in 1955.
It may be beautiful but it’s not comfortable, with an almost deafening exhaust sound, and a tight cabin that includes a passenger seat that’s smaller than the driver seat.
The driver must remove the steering wheel every time he wishes to get in or out of the car and he must also endure a prop shaft between his legs.
