Yes, yes, yes..... We couldn't wait to get started. During the 1930's there was an ongoing battle between Mercedes and Auto Union that produced a series of stunning monsters of ever increasing horsepower and fanatically detailed sophisticated engineering.

Mercedes sent us many many photographs and of course we went through our own library and archives.The streamlined car bodies were all hand made. Beaten and rolled aluminium sheet. They were racing cars not limousines. The finish was not perfect coat after coat of hand rubbed paint. Very often the bodies were unpainted and the imperfections in the surface were clearly apparent. These bumps and dents became more marked as the cars were transported around the race circuits. We asked Mercedes if they would let us try and make them "as they were" What we meant was that we did not want them to look as though they were models of "over restored" museum cars. We wanted them to look as they appeared at the time on the circuits.

To our delight, Mercedes said yes. So when you get to see the models please do not wonder why the paint and surface finishes are so crude. We actually did it on purpose.

Of course we did not stop there. We really tried to get the detailing right. Check out the cockpit interiors. For example the 1934 W25 with its engine turned dash board. We did not simply produce an injection molded generic 1930's steering wheel. We sandwiched the correctly patterned steel rim and spokes between the simulated wooden rims, some with finger grips and others smoothe.

The photo etched windscreen frames are also patterned differently from car to car. And no, they are not stuck on badly they really were fixed to the different bodies more or less off center. There is also a subtle degree of off centered asymetric positioning of various fittings, such as rear view mirrors and seats. This is particularly obvious on the 1939 W165.

The ventilated brake drums are cast seperately from the various suspension parts. Each wheel is made up from seven parts. Then there are the various pieces that go to make up the suspension and braking systems. The radiator grill on the W165 is made up of ten seperate photo etched parts each of which is glued in by hand.

All five models are currently available from the Mercedes-Benz Classic Collection as well as the Mercedes Museum and they are appearing on the internet as well. We hope that you will like the models as much as we enjoyed researching and developing them.