We are taking on a build of a rare Mercedes 450slc 5.0 rally car as a house project at Sierra Classic Sportscar. Hopefully this page will be a useful resource to marque enthusiasts or those with particular interest in the little-known history of Mercedes-Benz’ World Rally Championship participation. Like the car itself, this website will be a work in progress, updated as the build continues.
Mercedes 450slc 5.0 Rallye Project 
Awesome to see all the work done to your car! Hope it is serving you well. I am currently at a crossroads with my 5.0, but hopefully it’ll get done!
Thanks for the comment, Sanjay – tell me more about your car and where you are at with it. My car hasn’t done much for me in the way of service, I am serving it more than it is serving me, but that should change eventually. I look forward to getting it done and enjoying the ride, but one step at a time!
Since my last comment, my car has had the rocker sills and jack points rebuilt, new pads/rotors all around, leather/vinyl re-dyed, new carpets and some panels were re-painted. Next up is an updated subframe, new bushings/shocks/springs/ball joints… How are things progressing with your rally project?
Great blog! I’m looking at a 73 450slc at the moment and wanting to go the rallye road also. Will stay tuned to your blog. All the best. Mal.
Just acquired a ’74 450SL to finish off as a Rally Car. Great blog….
Thanks for dropping me a note – look forward to hearing more about your project as you get along on it. – Kevin
Mal – good luck in your search for a SLC, and have fun with the rally project. Nice to see more of these projects happening as time goes on, seems like the idea of rally-prepping SLCs is catching on! Are you in the USA?
This is an awesome project and you are very knowledgeable about the history. You give me hope and inspiration to bring my 73′ 450SLC back to life. It’s sat for 6yrs in my backyard. It was running when parked so there’s hope but I’m clueless as to how I proceed. Ie. Gas being bad etc.
Mike
Great site and a great car! Thanks for pulling together all of this information about the Mercedes-Benz rally cars.
Steve
Hi
I was wondering how the Rally car project was coming along. There appears to be no posts for a while. I have ’72 350SLC that now has the 500 motor with the 4 speed box fitted and we have recently finished The Winter Trial through Germany, Czech Rep, Slovenia and Austria. We’re based in the UK and drove to and from start. There were a few other entrants in SLC’s one being Stephen Goei from Pasadena. He keeps his car in Netherlands with a mechanic who preps it. Just flys in for the events as he said there is nothing in the way of historic rally’s in the USA
Good day – thanks for the note, nice to hear from an enthusiast in the UK. There hasn’t been been much progress on the car as of late, in large part due to the fact that last year I started a new venture, a classic car service and restoration shop, Sierra Classic Sportscar, here in Northern California. We actually specialize in British classics, but have some very deep Mercedes knowledge as well around here. So, the 450 SLC 5.0 makes slow progress in favor of the cars that pay for their stay! I feel at times that I am at a bit of a crossroads with this car, but really do want to see in through as it will be a great car when it is done, as you very well know. I wish there were a heightened awareness of vintage rallying here in the USA, and more quality events like in Europe. In Northern California there are many good vintage “rally” events, but they are not competitive events. The Winter Trial looks like fun, and there really should be similar events here. At the end of April there will be a road rally event here in the mountains, the Snowball Rally it is called, and we will run it in a 1968 MGB-GT, but the big Merc would be a great one there. Stay in touch!