1955 Mercedes Benz W196

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994 featured a tribute to Juan Manuel Fangio with a display of some of the cars that he drove to win his five World Championships, for two of which, in 1954 and 1955, he was a member of the Mercedes-Benz team.

This is one of the Mercedes-Benz W196 cars that he drove in those two seasons and in which I remember seeing him finish in second place to his team-mate Stirling Moss in the 1955 British Grand Prix at Aintree. Behind it is the Mercedes-Benz 300SLR with which Stirling Moss and co-driver Denis Jenkinson won the 1955 Mille Miglia - Fangio, driving solo, finished in second place over half an hour behind in second place in an identical car. In the background is an Aston Martin DBR1, chassis DBR1/2, which also formed part of a display in the paddock and on the circuit.

 

1955 Mercedes-Benz W196

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994 featured a tribute to Juan Manuel Fangio with a display of some of the cars that he drove to win his five World Championships, for two of which, in 1954 and 1955, he was a member of the Mercedes-Benz team.

The programme of the event had this to say about Fangio:

 

'The five times World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio is to be honoured by the British Racing Drivers' Club this weekend. Now aged 83, Fangio is no longer able to travel long distances, so he will be represented by his nephew, the 1992 & 1993 IMSA GTP Champion Juan Manuel Fangio II. On his uncle's behalf, he will receive one of the BRDC's prestigious Gold Stars for lifetime achievement.

This will be presented on Sunday by Lord Hesketh, President of the BRDC, on the grid. Juan Manuel Fangio II will also be seen in action on the track when he takes to the wheel of the Maserati 250F that his uncle used to win the 1957 German Grand Prix and thereby clinch his fifth and final World Championship.

The younger Fangio will lead the demonstration of famous racing cars, together with Stirling Moss who will drive a 1955 Mercedes-Benz W196, the type that both he and Fangio raced so successfully.'

 

The photograph shows Stirling Moss at Luffield corner on one of those demonstration runs.

Juan Manuel Fangio

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting of July 1994 at Silverstone featured a tribute to Juan Manuel Fangio and had a display of some of the cars with which he was associated.

On the left is the Mercedes Benz 300SLR with which Stirling Moss, accompanied by Denis Jenkinson, won the 1955 Mille Miglia – his team mate Fangio finished in second place in a solo drive. The red car is an Alfa Romeo 158, representing the later Alfa Romeo 159 with which Fangio won his first World Championship in 1951 and next to that is one of the cars with which he won two of his World Drivers’ Championship victories, the Mercedes Benz W196 which he drove in 1954 and 1955, although he started the 1954 season with a Maserati 250F. When Mercedes Benz withdrew from racing at the end of the 1955 season Fangio moved to the Ferrari team where he won the 1956 Championship driving a Lancia-Ferrari, but at the time of this tribute there were none left in existence, although since then several of the earlier Lancia D50s and the Lancia-Ferrari have been recreated. In 1957 he moved to the Maserati team where he won his last title with a 250F, one of which featured in this display, but was taking part in a track display when I took this photograph. Behind the W196 is a car from his earlier exploits in Argentina before he came to Europe. This blue and yellow car is a 1949 Ferrari 166 F2 car, Enzo Ferrari's first single seat racing car. It is thought to be one of the cars that Fangio drove early in his career before he came to Europe and joined the Alfa Romeo F1 team, and had been fully restored by Tony Merrick in the 4 years before this appearance.

Juan Manuel Fangio

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting of July 1994 at Silverstone featured a tribute to Juan Manuel Fangio and had a display of some of the cars with which he was associated.

This photograph shows one of the cars with which he won two of his World Drivers’ Championship victories and another from his earlier exploits in Argentina before he came to Europe. Although he started 1954 driving a Maserati 250F, Mercedes Benz introduced their new car at the French Grand Prix and he won the Championship in that year and in 1955 driving the W196 model, one of which is shown here nearest the camera. The blue and yellow car behind the Mercedes Benz is a 1949 Ferrari 166 F2 car, Enzo Ferrari's first single seat racing car. It is thought to be one of the cars that Fangio drove early in his career before he came to Europe and joined the Alfa Romeo F1 team, and had been fully restored by Tony Merrick in the 4 years before this appearance. The display also featured a 1950 Alfa Romeo 158, representing the later Alfa Romeo 159 with which Fangio won his first World Championship in 1951 and there was a Maserati 250F in the display which Fangio drove in winning the 1957 Championship. He won the 1956 Championship driving a Lancia-Ferrari but at the time of this tribute there were none left in existence, although since then several of the earlier Lancia D50s and the Lancia-Ferrari have been recreated.