Originally Posted by
nota
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.
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