Mercedes-Benz T80
The Mercedes-Benz T80 was a six-wheeled vehicle
built by Mercedes-Benz, developed and designed by Ferdinand Porsche. It was
intended to break the world land speed record, but never made the attempt,
having been over-taken by the outbreak of World War II.
Officially sanctioned by Adolf
Hitler (a race car fan influenced by Stuck), the project was started in 1937,
while the Nazi Third Reich was at the height of its powers. Automotive designer
Dr. Ferdinand Porsche first targeted a speed of 550 km/h (342 mph), but after
George Eyston's and John Cobb's successful LSR runs of 1938 and 1939 the target
speed was raised to 600 km/h (373 mph). By late 1939, when the project was
finished, the target speed was a much higher 750 km/h (470 mph). This would
also be the first attempt at the absolute land speed record on German soil,
Hitler envisioned the T80 as another propaganda triumph of German technological
superiority to be witnessed by all the world, courtesy of German television.
The massive 44.5 litre Daimler-Benz DB 603 inverted
V12 was selected to power the record-setting car. The engine was an increased
displacement derivative of the famous DB-601 aircraft engine that powered the
Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter in production at the time, with the DB 603 ending
up as the largest displacement inverted V12 aviation engine in production for
Germany during the World War II years. The DB-603 fitted was just the third
prototype (V3) engine of this variant and tuned up to 3,000 hp,
roughly twice the power of the Bf 109 or the Supermarine Spitfire. The engine
ran on a special mixture of methyl alcohol (63%), benzene (16%), ethanol (12%),
acetone (4.4%), nitrobenzene (2.2%), avgas (2%), and ether (0.4%) with MW
(methanol-water) injection for charge cooling and as an anti-detonant.
The difficulty of the challenge was met with money
and engineering genius. By 1939, the T80 was fully completed at a cost of RM
600,000. The car was over 8 meters (26 feet) long, had three axles with two of
them driven, weighed over 2.7 metric tons (three short tons), and produced
3,000 hp (2,200 kW) together with the aerodynamics of specialist Josef Mickl to
attain a projected speed of 750 km/h (470 mph). Aerodynamically, the T80
incorporated a Porsche-designed enclosed cockpit, low sloping hood, rounded
fenders, and elongated tail booms. Midway down the body were two small wings to
provide downforce and ensure stability - these wings were inspired by the wings
of Opel's famous rocket cars from 1928. The heavily
streamlined twin-tailed body (forming the fairings for each pair of tandem rear
wheels) achieved a drag coefficient of 0.18, an astonishingly low figure for
any vehicle.
The T80 is currently on display at the Mercedes-Benz
Museum in Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt. Many people over the decades have urged
Mercedes-Benz to fully restore the T80 and test run it to see if it would have
reached 750 km/h (470 mph).
