Brief History...
The Mercedes-Benz W111 was produced from 1959 to 1968. It is known as "Heckflosse" in German language which mean "Fintail". Why it has been called, "fintail" is because of the unique design of the rear chassis (2 sharp ears) that influenced most by the American. However, the W111 is more popular known as "Batman" in Malaysia. You know what i mean!
Can you imagine such a long wheelbase vehicle won in Monte Carlo Rally 1960? Based on my findings from internet, one year after the W111 officially introduced in the market, the W111 entered into Monte Carlo Rally, and the result was that first, second and third place were won by these W111.
Having said that, a Mercedes Benz 220SE was the winner after a difficult scoring procedure in 1960. Then, it was the time of Mini Coopers that pretty much dominated the Monte Carlo Rally during the rest of the decade. Other winning manufacturers of the 1960s were Panhard, Porsche and Saab, signifying a complete range of competing rallying cars. However, the conditions were so demanding that each year fewer and fewer cars were actually making it to the finish. Especially, in 1965 only 35 out of 237 cars finished their race, a fact that made the Monte Carlo Rally even more exciting and prestigious. Winning the Monte Carlo Rally gave the winner a great deal of reliability and exposure.
Check out the following photos:
Awesome Car Safety Design
A very important safety feature was that the Mercedes-Benz W111's chassis came with a safety-cage with 'crumple zones'. The trunk had increased with 50%, this was not just simply because of styling but because of the need for a large crumple zone at the rear. The Mercedes Heckflosse was the first production car in the world to incorporate these safety principles. A high tech stuff for the time....awesome huh!
