World's fastest truck marks Merc F1 return

It's 75 years since Mercedes first entered Grand Prix racing and to mark the company's return to the sport in 2010 it gathered three generations of purpose-built F1 machinery. This isn't the usual collection of race cars, but Mercedes' family of F1 transporters, including 'The Blue Wonder' that was the world's fastest truck in 1955.

The Silver Arrows name for Mercedes' new Formula One team revives the classic name used for the firm's previous F1 outings. As part of the team's launch, it brought together one of the 6.5-tonne trucks from the 1934 season used to carry the original Silver Arrows racers all over Europe.

From the 1950s comes The Blue Wonder, which was a purpose-designed and built transporter that used the same 3.0-litre engine as Mercedes' racing cars. With a unique 'cab forward' design, The Blue Wonder stands at 6.75m long and is 2.0m wide. Commissioned by then racing team boss Alfred Neubauer, this one-off truck went on to be used as an exhibition vehicle in the USA until it was scrapped in 1967.

However, Mercedes decided to recreate The Blue Wonder and it lined up alongside the 1934 Lo2750 and today's high-tech Actros articulated truck.

Alisdair Suttie