Cars
Broken Dreams: Mercedes SLX. Stuttgart like Maranello: That No to the Rear Engine
The Mercedes SLX was a bold rear-engine prototype from the '60s, aiming to rival icons like the 300 SL. Despite innovation in design and aerodynamics, the project was shelved, paving the way for later concepts like the C111 and the AMG GT-One.
Porsche’s idea of producing winning racing cars with rear engines during the '60s—think of the 550 RS—was copied by many car manufacturers both for the track and for the road. Ferrari, with the 250 P, Abarth with its small sports cars, and Ford with the GT40, as well as Porsche itself with the 904, got Mercedes technical management thinking too. After retiring from racing following the tragedy at Le Mans in 1955, the 300 SL, the famous “Gullwing”, remained the last-standing symbol of the three-pointed star's sportiness.
It was a question of understanding what style and technology a rear-engined sports Mercedes dedicated for road use should adopt. By 1962, a team led by designer Paul Braq, who had designed the Pagoda, and Italian Giorgio Battistella from Turin-based OSI, had already drawn the first sketches that took four years to become a 1:1 scale model, presented to the board. Unfortunately, they had no luck, despite positive wind tunnel tests, partly due to a change in the company's technical direction, which focused on innovative engines like the Wankel.
