19 November 2021
|
CMC Mercedes Benz SSKL GP Germany 1931 #10 Hans Stuck
PRICE: £503.99
REF NO: CMC M188
SCALE: 1/18
Towards the end of the 1920s, and even in the early 1930s, the motor racing scene was largely dominated by one automotive marque - Mercedes-Benz. Especially with its SSK/SSKL (L for lightweight) models, powered by the legendary 7.1-litre 6-cylinder with compressor.
The SSKL often went by the affectionate nickname of 'White Elephant'. One school of thought was that this was attributed to its seemingly unruly power and colossal size. But also, it probably had just as much to do with the German racing livery that Rudolf Caracciola, Hans Stuck and Otto Merz had on their SSKLs, and the plethora of honours they won in racing them. Despite the global economic crisis and limited support from the Daimler-Benz factory, in Stuttgart, Rudolf Caracciola and his two teammates managed to keep racing through the hard times. In addition to his victory at the 1931 Mille Miglia, Caracciola finished first in the 1931 Grand Prix of Germany, whereas Otto Merz and Hans Stuck took a fifth and sixth places in the same race.
CMC has already released Carraciola’s winners from both the Mille Miglia and the German Grand Prix, and has now followed this with versions of the SSKLs driven in Germany by Otto Merz (5th place) and Hans Stuck (6th) – of which, the latter is depicted here.
The list of features on this model is most impressuve, even by CMC's magnificent standards — hand-crafted metal precision model built from more than 1700 parts, authentically and true-to-scale formed car body, originally reproduced lightweight steel frame, grille and rock guard in superior quality metal finish, split mid-hinged bonnet with leather belt fastenings, rear bonnet fastenings finished in metal, inline 6-cylinder engine (complete with peripherical components, piping and cabling), exhausts finished in metal hosed flexible pipes, perfectly crafted wheels with alloy rims and hand-mounted matte black spokes and nipples, removable centre-lock wheel fasteners, spare wheel mounted with a locking handle, detachable, leaf springs finished in metal on front and rear axle, hinged fuel filler finished in stainless steel, moveable throttle-/ignition lever mounted at the steering wheel, authentic replication of the cockpit and its gauges, both seats covered with real leather, moveable windscreen for both driver and co-driver, brake drums in authentic copper finish with cooling fins, and starting numbers on both sides that are authentically replicated as printed cloth. Wow!
This is a limited edition of 800 units, so is definitely an investment worth considering. If this is your thing.
It's difficult to pick a favourite feature, with there being so many – all exquisitely crafted, of course – but we keep coming back to those cloth racing numbers, such a wonderful surprise.