Mercedes-Benz factory rally cars

[nota]

Large recent pics from the back sheds of the Classic Center in Fallbach, Germany

First W107 pic is one of the 450SLC 5.0 cars which took the first four places in the 1979 Ivory Coast (Bandama) Rally. Car 6 won (crewed by Hannu Mikkola and Arne Hertz) and this car #4 pictured came second crewed by Bjorn Waldegaad and Hans Thorszelius

The second W107 (car 8 ) is the 500SLC of Waldegaard and Thorszelius that won the 1980 Ivory Coast Rally

Third pic is the 1977 London-Sydney winning W123 280E (Andrew Cowan, Colin Malkin and Mike Broad) which won the 18,000 km event, with another 280E of Fowkes and O'Gorman coming in second

[Ferrer]

First W107 pic is one of the 450SLC 5.0 cars which took the first four places in the 1979 Ivory Coast (Bandama) Rally. Car 6 won (crewed by Hannu Mikkola and Arne Hertz) and this car #4 pictured came second crewed by Bjorn Waldegaad and Hans Thorszelius
IIRC Waldegaard won the first World Rally drivers Championship in 1979 advantaging Mikkola by just one point, and the Bandama was the last rounnd of the championship.

Also, the 450SLC's were known for destroying the tyres in "normal" rallyes such as the Portugal or the Acropolis, punctures being frequant in such torquey monsters. IIRC correctly eventually a five speed manual 500 SL was tested in 1981 by the works team, drivem by 1980 World champion Walter Worhl only to be cancelled because of the lack of competitiveness, effectively leaving Worhl without a drive for 1981.