Mercedes Rebuild

A creditable restoration.—Mr. G. M. Palmer at the wheel of the 1924 Targa Florio Mercedes which he has painstakingly built up over a period of more than five years, virtually from boxes of parts. It is believed to be the only Mercedes of its kind outside the Daimler-Benz Museum at Stuttgart, and to have won that year’s Targa and Coppa Florio, driven by Christian Werner.

The three-quarter rear view of the Mercedes shows how the engineers responsible for the road-racing cars eschewed pointed tails. Note, too, the typically Mercedes fuel filler and exhaust system. The Registration Number is that allocated to the car in 1925, when it came to England, to be driven in speed trials and hill-climbs by E. A. Mayner and Raymond Mays.

The engine of the Targa Florio Mercedes. Note the unusual shape of the brass inlet manifold, the vertical Roots supercharger, twin camboxes and the traditional radiator. It can be hard in action t present-day V.S.C.C. meetings.