Starting with their introductory year of 1954, Mercedes-Benz Formula One cars had many improvements for 1955. Chassis 0009/55, first to be made in the new year, travelled from race track to museum and finally to the auction house.
Juan Manuel Fangio had a head start. He joined the Mercedes-Benz racing team in mid-1954, when his principal team rival was a fast but inconsistent Karl Kling. Fangio’s second World Championship was in the bag.
The chassis of Stirling’s car at Monza had carried Fangio to victory in Buenos Aires. Now it sought an exit from the Indianapolis Speedway Museum.
The situation changed in 1955 when Stirling Moss joined the team. Though not yet at his peak, Moss was already a driver of international repute. In a December 1954 letter to the Argentinian, a Daimler-Benz executive broke the delicate news of the Moss hiring, saying that without a Moss-level driver ‘in the event of a retirement of yourself we would cut too poor a figure in relation to our substantial commitment. Moreover Mr. Moss is an avowed partisan of yourself and we certainly believe that the relationship between you will be, and remain, good.’
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