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Fine Tolerances. As soon as Daimler-Benz was making money again, it went out to recapture its old racing honors. In 1952, it sent the powerful, speedy 300 SL to Brescia for Italy's famed Mille Miglia (1,000-mile race). Along went a famed prewar Mercedes figure, vat-sized Alfred Neubauer, 62, pit boss in the 1930s. Neubauer, who wears two stop watches about his neck and likes to keep a cooling case of Munich beer close by, had lost none of his cunning. Under his split-second training, crews changed tires and refueled the Mercedes in 22 seconds. After placing second in the Mille Miglia, the Daimler-Benz champions grabbed top honors at Bern's Grand Prix, at France's Le Mans, the most grueling (24-hour) road race of all, and at Mexico's Pan American. At each, they arrived weeks in advance, inspected every mile of road, noted curves and other obstacles, planned their race as carefully as a Prussian general his campaign.
At Daimler-Benz, the craftsmen take just as great pains with the cars. One out of every 15 production workers is a tester, who makes sure each car meets exacting requirements. Engine parts are machined to fine tolerances, each engine is tested on a block for from four to twelve hours. Daimler-Benz makes eight models of Mercedes, including two diesel-powered ones, which range from the relatively inexpensive four-cylinder 170 V ($1,890 and about 60 h.p.) to the six-cylinder 300 S (about 190 h.p.). With their old-fashioned bodies, they resemble 1936, and older, U.S. cars. Their high-geared steering, a feature of road racers, is as hard as a truck's but very responsive, and they are famed for the way they hold the road. Each model has such features as self-lubrication (at the press of a foot pedal), independent suspension of all four wheels, handwork on such parts as polished wood dashboards and door frames. Daimler-Benz sticks stubbornly to heavy, solid steel, though many other makers have switched to lighter frames. Says Chief Designer Fritz Nallinger: "Mercedes is built to last."