Hi Stuart, good to see you at VVC last month. Further to our chat about Mercedes-Benz Fintails, I’d like to correct a note in the April that mentions the works team pulled out of competition following the 1955 Le Mans tragedy. The 300SE Fintail was raced by the firm up to 1967, when it was replaced with the 300SEL W109 6.3. A year later, Mercedes-Benz withdrew from the sport and AMG took over with the 300SE W109 6.9. You’ll find more information on works Fintail racing and rallying in an article I wrote in Volume 5 Number 2 of Classic Car Africa in January 2000.
Locally Errol Kobus raced one back in the day, and in more recent times Grant Viljoen competed with a 230S.
CCA greetings,
Basil Chassoulas
Thanks Basil, great to hear from one of our founding authors. I managed to find the article in the January 2000 issue and read it with great interest, thank you. As far as I know, Grant’s Fintail racer is now with another enthusiast and he is currently building another race car – a Mercedes-Benz again, but not a Fintail…