Starting away in the Rally at the wheel of the impressive 500 SL

As we announced earlier on this site, we had two magnificent days participating in the Paul Pietsch Rally, at the wheel of a superb prototype 500 SL, which I shared with the Internet Manager of l’Automobile Magazine, Guntram Fiala.

I was more than delighted with my works car, and the perfect support given by the Mercedes team. Here I stand with Christoph Horn, Head of Global Communications Mercedes-Benz cars to my right.   

The 500 SL was actually an “intermediate” works prototype, as it had the 5 litre V8 engine some 6 months before beginning of series production. We were very proud to drive this gem, build in 1985, and the car behaved wonderfully.

But not only the car was a delight. So was the organisation of the Rally by the people of Motor Presse Stuttgart,

and we were perfectly hosted by Mercedes-Benz, last but not least by Manuela Zimmermann, of the International Activities department of Mercedes Benz Global Communications, standing here to the left and Christoph Horn, Head of Global Communications Mercedes-Benz Cars, standing to the right and of course their whole team.

Hans Knol ten Bensel

A delightful Rally route…

The Rally was organised by Motor Presse Stuttgart to honour its founder, who celebrated his 100^th birthday on Monday

June 20 2011, just one day after the Rallye.

Paul Pietsch was a quite talented racing driver, and as if this was not enough, he is also the founder of Motor Presse Stuttgart, and of its world famous magazine, “Auto, Motor und Sport”. Quite frankly, I perfected my German with this magazine. I literally devoured it already when I was a teenager, reading the comparison tests between the Alfa Romeo 2600 “six” and the Fiat 2300S Coupé, amongst many others. I remember the magnificent photos of Julius Weitmann, the all were stars for me.

The daughter of Paul Pietsch participated at the Rally, in a Bugatti 35, her fathers' first racing car. The same smile and love for motorsport and cars as her father...  

But back to the Rally route. It went from beautiful Freiburg on the first day to Offenburg, and on Sunday we drove further to Stuttgart, to meet the chequered flag at the grounds of the Mercedes-Benz Museum.

The evening before the Rally we were hosted by the city of Freiburg and the Rally organisers in the beautiful "Historisches Kaufhaus".  

We started away on the “Schauinsland” leg, the route of the famous German hill climb race, where racing driver Paul Pietsch proved himself to be a master many times.

A ladies' team of privateers, at the wheel of a 1929 Mercedes SSK, which has been the proud family posession for over 40 years!   

Of course we enjoyed the power of our V8, but even more its silk-smooth operation and the excellent creature comfort of the car. The weather was ever-changing, but we drove with the hood down whenever we could, even with temperatures as low as 10 degrees. Just get the heater on, put the windows up and… indeed, enjoy the scenery in the heated front seats… 

Epoche making atmosphere at the start with the radiators of the Alfa 1750 and the Mercedes SSK alongside each other...  

There are many stories to tell on this event, and many more will follow on these pages, on the car, the participants, and last but not least the famous drivers we met, like Hans Herrmann and Jochen Mass, but also five times DTM champion Bernd Schneider. We talked at length with Bernd about perfecting one’s driving style. So there is so much more to come…

At the end of the first Rally day, your servant sat at the dinner table with Hans Herrmann, with Dr Joachim Schmidt, Member of Mercedes-Benz Cars Management responsible for Sales and Marketing to his right.

We received also a magnificent book to take home after the Rally, about the life and automotive career of Paul Pietsch himself, we will tell you more about it soon…

Exquisite rally comfort in the 500 SL, an ideal regularity rally car...

But in the meantime, we just tell you that you will also soon read my full report on the event in Oldtimer Dreamcar Magazine, which will appear in the next issue.

Happy faces at the finish, with myself at the wheel, and my excellent co-driver Guntram Fiala...

...and also Paul Pietsch himself was getting a "Tour d'Honneur" on the grounds of the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart at the finish, sitting in the Mercedes 300 D cabriolet with Dr Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development at the wheel. His son, Peter-Paul Pietsch, sits in the back seat...

Here, the accompanying photos will already put you in the (right) mood…

Hans Knol ten Bensel