Vive la France! At perhaps the most legendary race track in the world, the big "Big Car Show" took place! A premiere event in the heart of France, right in Le Mans. Mercedes-Benz and Le Mans, this is a long history in which ups and downs play a supporting role for the brand. Worth mentioning are numerous double victories like in 1952 with the type 300 SL racing sports car (W 194) or in 1989 with the Sauber-Mercedes silver arrows of the type C 9. Le Mans is Le Mans!
Even though it has now been far too quiet in this respect for far too long, Mercedes-Benz and the 24h of Le Mans have a long history together. All these stories and the curiosity about the open-brand "Big Car Show", which was to take place on the race track and in the infield, now attracted us to France.
The first event around co-organizer Clement took place directly at the world famous "Circuit Le Mans Bugatti". The new event at the 24h race track of Le Mans gave us the opportunity to transport our LeBENZ feeling to France. After all, there are also a lot of MIBs in our neighboring country. On Friday the 19.08.2022 was the first event day. In the luggage we had beside our E 300de also a Mercedes-Benz E60 AMG from the AE Performance Center from Schweinfurt.
Can there be a more appealing contrast? Hidden under the silhouette of a run-of-the-mill cab is one of the most powerful production vehicles of the nineties, which even today has no problem getting high-performance sports cars into trouble.
There is no longer any doubt as to how many E60s may have left the hallowed halls of Affalterbach. Our research suggests that the faction that puts the total number of E60s at 147 is probably right. The AMG is powered by a 6-liter steam hammer that was a further development of the M119-E50 engine that fueled the 500 E. Initially rated at 374 and later at 381 hp, the V8 in the E60 wowed with sensational power delivery. The brochure stated a maximum torque of 580 Nm at 3,800 rpm - 15 years ago, some supercars didn't have that much power.
But back to the "Big Car Show". Our MIB Show Area was next to an E60 AMG represented by an A 45 AMG, CL 500, C 63 Estate, CLK 55 AMG, W116, W201, CLA 45 AMG ShootingBrake, C63s AMG, S63 AMG, W124 Estate and a CLK 500 Widebody from Mercedes-Fan. Ahmed nabil el-shrkawi alias Tagman represented. Right in the middle our current collection, which quickly enjoyed great popularity among the French. Let's get rid of the prejudice that the French only like Renault, Peugeot and Citroen - but we would not have expected that there are so many Mercedes fans in France!
On the last day, we were allowed to drive together with some cars over the world-famous race track of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Over 45 minutes, numerous stars marked the legendary sections of Le Mans: Dunlop Chicane, Mulsanne Curve, Hunaudières Straight or Porsche Curve. Breathtaking and a real goosebump moment for everyone.
Next year we want to go to Le Mans again and revive the Men In Benz outpost at the "Circuit Le Mans Bugatti". When the time comes, we will let you know, maybe one or the other MIB would like to come along?
Un grand merci à tous ceux qui ont contribué à la realisation de ce project! Photos: @omarlecalamar et DLDMV