Mercedes-Benz 27/170/225 PS 710 SS W 06 - 1930 Serial number: 36352 Engine: type M06 Bore x stroke: 100 x 150 mm Capacity: 7 068 cc Timing gear: one OHC Ignition: magneto and battery Intake: one special twin-choke Mercedes carburettor Supercharging: one Roots-Mercedes blower Compression ratio: 6.2 :1 Maximum power: 225 bhp @ 3 300 rpm (with the supercharger on) Transmission: 4 ratios + R manual gearbox Chassis frame: U-section steel side and cross members Body: two seat two door body cabriolet by Thrupp and Maberly Front suspension: solid axle, half-elliptic leaf springs, friction shocks Rear suspension: solid axle, half-elliptic leaf springs, friction shocks Wheelbase: 3 400 mm Front track: 1 420 mm Rear track: 1 420 mm Dry weight: 1 850 kg Brakes: four drums mechanically actuated Mercedes-Benz system Wheels: central locking 20" wire wheels Tyres: 6.50 x 20 Performance: 118 mph (190 km/h) max speed Production run : from 1927 to 1934 Production: 4 700 SS (W1156 S) 1927-28 50 710 SS (W1156 SII) 1928-30 115 710 SS (W06) 1928-34 4 710 SS (W06 S) 1929-30 Ferdinand Porsche can be ranked among the best motor engineers of the last century (with Vittorio Jano), who specialized in sports and racing cars. At Mercedes-Benz he created one of the most famed families of sports cars which aimed at the wealthiest customers with an inclination towards performance. The first model of this series was the K (for Kurz, short and not Kompressor as for the following series 380/500/540/580 and 770K). This K-type Mercedes was in fact a shortened version of the 630. Besides some minor differences, it had already the huge six-cylinder engine "mit Kompressor" very similar to the SSK unit. The wheelbase was 3 400 mm and the engine developed 160 bhp at 3 100 rpm. The fastest cars topped more than 150 km/h (95 mph) which seemed unsufficient for the keenest drivers. At the moment, the management of Mercedes-Benz was reluctant to build true racing cars for financial reasons and the firm went to pure Grand Prix cars only in 1934 pushed and backed by the German government. But in 1926, the engineers had no other choice than to do with the existing models and to develop it. The K-type was improved with a lowered chassis (ground clearance downed to 152 mm or 6 inches). The engine had been pushed rearwards by some 19 inches in order to improve the chassis balance and to reduce the tendancy to understeer. The S-type which followed was the masterpiece of this fantastic series designed by Ferdinand Porsche. On the 27th of June1927, on the all-new 25,6 km-long Nürburgring circuit three Mercedes cars took the first three places: two S-types with Rudolf Caracciola and Christian Werner and one 630 driven by von Mosch. Caracciola's style of negociating the 172 bends astonished even his team manager, Alfred Neubauer, who invented for this race the panel-signalling. The S-type was one of the most remarkable cars of the series and it is amazing to see that the S is about 3 inches lower than the following SS. The S-type unit showed unusual sizes (98 x 150 mm), capacity (6785 cc) and power according to the engine type: n 140/180 bhp in 1927-1928 (engines M9856 and M9856 S) n 170/225 bhp in 1928-30 (engineW06) n 190/250 bhp in1929 (engine W06II) max. speed 125 mph all fitted with twin ignition, SOHC and supercharger made by Mercedes and rotating at 2.8 times the engine speed. The blower was clutched on by full pressure on the throttle pedal (for a few seconds only!). S-type chassis were often clothed with simpler and lighter bodies than the SS ones. Some factory coachworks are superb, but specialised coachbuilders like the French Saoutchik built true masterpieces. See continuation