Just for you new Folks... Tom Bryant Owned the Pierson Bros Coupe for Many
Many Years... and he was the guy to make it go the Fastest.... oh did I
mention it was the car that got him in the Two Club at Bville? or that he
was the SCTA President for a couple of years in the Early Sixties....
Tom is SHY.... but you can see what an amazing guy he is by checking out his
web site at www.bryantauto.com Pay Particular attention to his ethic's in
his Mission statement....
We are Blessed with Many folks like Tom on the List....
Keith (sorry for bragging on you Tom... you simply deserve the attention for
a life time of quality work)
----- Original Message -----
From: Thomas E. Bryant <saltracer@awwwsome.com>
To: <FastmetalBDF@aol.com>
Cc: <OHFASTONE@aol.com>; <speedtimer@earthlink.net>;
<boogiewoogie12@hotmail.com>; <34ford@email.msn.com>;
<land-speed@autox.team.net>
Sent: Friday, July 28, 2000 7:51 PM
Subject: Re: Mercedes 300 SLs and several related items
> The last one I saw was at Bruce Meyer's mini museum at his home. That
> was in November 1992 at the debut of the restored Pierson Coupe.
>
> Tom, Redding CA - #216 D/CC
>
> FastmetalBDF@aol.com wrote:
> >
> > Mike, list : Your mention of seeing a 300SL coupe in LA
reminded
> > me of
> > one I saw parked at a sports car shop on Hollywood Blvd. way back in
1957
> > .......
> > It was actually flame painted !!! Many die hard Mercedes or sports car
> > lovers would
> > view that as sacrilege, I am sure, but be that as it may, the flames
were one
> > of the finest examples of the art I have ever seen, and I am almost
certain
> > they were done
> > by the very well known West Coast striper and painter Von Dutch . This
car
> > would turn heads anywhere at any time ! I still have several photos I
took
> > of this
> > flamed gull wing, with my first ( box ) camera,somewhere in a shoebox .
> > The last time I saw a 300 SL on the road was back in the 80s, and
that
> > one was
> > riding on a flatbed truck, and in need of much restoration, heading over
the
> > Tappan Zee Bridge into New York State . 300 SLs on the highways around
this
> > part of the country are about as common as the old Citroen " traction
avants
> > " that always
> > reminded me of a sectioned '34 Ford sedan ...... or as hen' s teeth .
> > I took a look in my book on Mercedes and came up with several
specs on
> > the
> > 300 SL version produced in 1955 .........
> > The coupe weighed 1020 kg ( 2249 lb ), had a triangulated light tubular
space
> > frame,
> > coil front and swing axle rear suspension, finned drum brakes all
around, and
> > steel disc wheels with knock off hubs ( I never knew that ). The
tranny was
> > a close ratio four speed, as Glen Barrett must remember, and the clutch
was
> > an F & S dry plate unit . The 6 cyl engine, laid over to the left to
attain
> > a low hood ( bonnet ) line, was Bosch fuel injected, unlike the first
300 SLs
> > in 1952 which had three Solex downdraft carbs which gave 175 horses at
5200
> > rpm ( ..... always thought that multiple side and downdraft carbs looked
SO
> > COOL ! ) The injectors, developed by Daimler for their early aircraft
> > engines, were refined over the years and produced 215 horses at 6200 rpm
on
> > this '55 model . Daimler had built the engines for the ill fated
Hindenburg
> > and Graf Zeppelin airships of the 30s ....... these were 88 litre V16
> > Diesels, and later 20 cylinder versions gave 2000 hp unblown, and at
least
> > one was built with a supercharger ..... it banged out over 2500 brake
horse
> > power !!!
> > This street coupe had an 85 mm x 88 mm bore / stroke for a total of
2996
> > cc
> > ( you figure out how many cubes ...... something like 61+ cc' s per
cube, I
> > think )
> > and had a chain driven overhead cam with 2 valves only per cylinder, and
8.55
> > to 1 compression ratio . Unlike many of the pre war Mercedes Grand
Prix
> > cars,
> > these engines did not have desmodromic valve gear ( valves opened AND
CLOSED
> > by a camshaft ), double ohv cams, or separate cylinder casings WELDED
> > together,
> > and to a block holding the crank . Many years of racing ( land / water
/ air
> > ) and engineering expertise went into designing and building these
fabulous
> > cars .......
> > in fact in 1939 an inverted liquid cooled V12 Daimler Benz engine making
2770
> > hp
> > at 3100 rpm powered an ME 209 fighter plane to a speed of 755.1 km / h,
which
> > is 470 mph for those of us on this side of the Pond ........ this world
> > record stood
> > for 30 years ....... although some Allied aircraft may have equalled
this
> > speed during the war years , with turbocharging and fuel injection and
the
> > use of special fuels
> > ....... in fact, I have heard a few references to the fact that it was
the WW
> > II German
> > fighter planes that first used NITROMETHANE in an engine !!!
> > Yes, the fabulous 300 SLs of the fifties : rare, exotic,
unbelievably
> > expensive,
> > hard to find parts for ( ??? ) and unattainable for most of us .........
> > all in all, one helluva automobile !!! This for 4400 British Lbs in
1954 -
> > 55 .
> > I would bet there are a few folks on this list who have worked on
them
> > .......
> > do we have any ex or present owners ? We know at least one person here
> > got to drive one ...... At SPEED !!! ........ Lucky, Lucky man !
I
> > almost left out
> > the top speed listed in the book : 0 to 60 in 7.2 secs and 265 km / h
.....
> > ( that's 165 MPH over here ) ...... NICE street car in 1955 ...... or
> > ANYTIME !!!
> > ....... History lesson's over ! Bruce
>
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