Thank you, guys. Unfortunatelly, I don't have any more information.

Pix taken in Stuttgart c. 1996 - and welcome indeed Jorge....

DCN

In 1996? Is the car already restored? Or is it a replica? I thought the car must be in a better condition, cause there was no reason to get the car so naked?

Holger,

if I remember correctly, the T80 was shown for many years in its complete form in the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. I cannot remember when the museum was closed, but they opened it in altered (its present form) again in 1986 (100th anniversary of the Carl Benz patent) with the T80 body hanging at the wall (and the rest see Doug's pictures). I don't know whether they thought this way is just more spectacular or whether they did'nt have the space to display it in complete form.

Kind regards
Michael

Thank you Michael, I couldn't understand, why they divided one car into two parts? I think for such a spectacular car must be space in a new museum. (If there is space for the body.... )

No!

Look at this:



The Opel RAK-2 rocket-powered experimental car of 1928

And even that had a predecessor:



For more information about rocket pioneers just visit this wonderful page: Raketenmaenner

Taking a closer look at that website (I have just discvovered it) I think I do not regard it so wonderful any longer...

But at least quite informative.

And of course you can find further info on the rocket cars in 'Motor Racing Mavericks' by a certain D Nye...should be around £20 second-hand, the Autosport show at the NEC next month should have a few dealers with a copy.

Friends:

In 1990, while I was with The Star, the magazine of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America, Dean Batchelor wrote a two-part article on Mercedes-Benz record cars. His two-page description of the T-80 project appeared in the January/February 1991 issue. Because we bought only first-time rights, I can't reproduce it here, but that issue should not be hard to find (www.mbca.org).

According to Dean, the idea for the car came from Stuck, and Ferdinand Porsche volunteered to design it for no fee. The original design called for two DB601 engines but was later re-drawn for a single DB601, which, it was felt, could be tuned to make 2,000 hp--for a short time, on the ground. Daimler-Benz agreed to build the car and started work in mid-1937. When Eyston and Cobb competed at Bonneville in 1938, the new record set there made Porsche realize the T-80 would have to go faster than originally planned and would need 3,000 hp. So the 44.5-liter DB603, just being developed, became the engine of choice. Such an engine was installed in the car in early 1939. For reliability, the earlier roller bearings were replaced by plain bearings. More details of the engine and drivetrain appear in the article.

Testing continued in 1939. The original plot was to set a record at Bonneville, but the German government (via Huhnlein) indicated that it would have to be done on German soil, hence the autobahn improvements. I'm told that the T-80 never ran under its own power. Of course, Karl Ludvigsen's writings have more details.

Frank