Motoring Con Brio

This has always been a good read. The synopsis:

[Journalist Brock] Yates was approached by the [Daimler-Benz] factory to write promotional literature about the [Mercedes-Benz 450SEL] 6.9. He agreed, but under the condition that he could list the car’s faults as well as its positives. Daimler-Benz agreed in turn, and Yates was given a US-spec 6.9 to drive from Manhattan to the Road Atlanta grand prix race track in Georgia (source).

Some choice bits:

…In driving parlance, a brisk pace on the highway is sometimes described as 5/10th, while a flat-out, no-holds-barred lap of a race track is measured at 10/10ths…

…At 120 mph, I slipped open the sun roof and made a lap with the radio playing. This was perfectly practical in terms of wind noise and general listening pleasure, but I shut the sound off and went back to work, fearing that a music-induced lapse in concentration might bend some very expensive sheet metal…

…The car rolled into the pits and aside from a slight, completely normal hissing sound as the hydropneumatic suspension readjusted itself, the 6.9 was behaving as if nothing had happened – much like a strong, young thoroughbred after an early morning exercise…

Read all of it here.

~ by velofinds on January 29, 2014.

Posted in Circuits, Still images
Tags: 450sel, 450sel 6.9, 6.9, brock yates, mercedes-benz, road atlanta, w116