Mercedes-Benz SS, 1928 - 1929

To ensure that the supercharged racing touring car remained the dominant force in its racing category even after the so successful début of the Mercedes-Benz Type S, Daimler-Benz ignited the next development stage of the W 06 series as early as the following year, 1928. Its performance level was to be even higher.

True to the motto "There is no substitute for displacement", the cylinder bore of the six-cylinder Type S engine with its displacement of 6.8 litres was enlarged by a further 2 mm to 100 mm. This increased the total displacement to 7069 cc. In addition, valve discs enlarged by 2 mm to a diameter of 52 mm ensured an accelerated gas exchange in the combustion chamber.

At the same time, the emphasis of the revised car's character, now called "Type SS" (for Super Sport), was to be shifted to make it a high-performance vehicle suitable for everyday use again, including for tactical sales reasons. Thus, from its inclusion in the sales programme in June 1928, there was an engine version intended more for road use with a compression ratio of 4.7:1, whose maximum output was 140 hp/103 kW without and 200 hp/147 kW at 3300 rpm with compressor. In 1930, the compression ratio of this version was increased to 5.2:1, resulting in an boost in output to 160 hp/118 kW without activated compressor.

This was contrasted from the outset by a version of the six-cylinder supercharged engine specified primarily for competition use, which still had an engine block made of the aluminium alloy silumin. With a compression ratio of 6.2:1, this version provided 170 hp/125 kW without compressor and 225 hp/165 kW with compressor - the same values as the sports engine in the Type S despite an enlarged displacement of 7.1 litres.

All engine variants were installed in the technically unchanged frame of the predecessor model; however, the range of available body variants was subsequently extended beyond the pure chassis - another indication that Daimler-Benz intended to use the Type SS again to appeal increasingly to a buying public interested in driving on public roads. In addition to the well-known "Sports four-seater", a four-seater "Special Cabriolet" was also available from the end of 1929 and a two-seater "Special Cabriolet" from 1932, which was also offered in a roadster version. The radiator, which was again a hand's width taller than in the Type S, favoured a less crouched body structure that better met the requirements of a more comfortable touring car with high power reserves.

Despite its somewhat less sports-focused design, the new Type SS seamlessly continued the successful motorsport career of its predecessor as a racing touring car. After an unofficial outing at the end of June 1928 at the hillclimb to the Bühler Höhe held as part of the Baden-Baden Automobile Tournament, in which Rudolf Caracciola competed with a Type SS registered as a Type S and won in superior style, the new model rolled onto the starting grid for the first time officially in the German Grand Prix for sports cars held 14 days later at the Nürburgring and impressively documented its superiority: Caracciola secured victory ahead of Otto Merz and Christian Werner - all in Mercedes-Benz Type SS cars. This promising premiere was followed by a multitude of further victories and top placings until 1931, which were achieved by talented private drivers such as Ernst-Günther von Wentzel-Mosau or foreign luminaries such as the British Earl Howe and Sir Malcolm Campbell in flat races and hillclimbs.

During the production period, which lasted from November 1928 to September 1933, a total of 111 Type SS chassis were produced, 101 of them by the end of 1930. By September 1933, another 10 vehicles had been completed.