Moss and Mercedes 300SLR to star at Lime Rock Historic Festival

Murray Smith, chairman of Lime Rock Park's Labor Day Weekend historic festival, Sept. 3-7, has announced that Mercedes-Benz has confirmed that the factory will send the 300SLR sports car with which Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson stormed to a famous victory in the 1955 Mille Miglia (ABOVE). Also coming from the factory collection will be a W196 Formula 1 Grand Prix car of the type that Juan Manuel Fangio and Moss finished first and second in the world championship the same year.

On hand to drive the cars at Lime Rock will be Sir Stirling himself as well as Mercedes Classic official driver Jochen Mass, who won the 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Sauber Mercedes C9, in addition to being the winningest driver of the Group C era. Mass also scored a Formula 1 victory for McLaren and a win at the 1987 Sebring 12 Hours, teamed with Bobby Rahal in the Bayside Porsche 962.

"Stirling’s drive to victory in the Mille Miglia is one of the outstanding sporting feats of the 20th century… right up there with Roger Bannister's sub-4-minute mile and Jean-Claude Killy’s three gold medals in the 1968 Grenoble Winter Olympics." Smith said. "It is probably the single greatest drive of all time in motorsports.

"We are delighted that Mercedes have honored us with this gesture. We are planning to reciprocate by underlining the three pointed star's outstanding sporting and engineering legacy as we organize a truly great display of the company's cars from the last 10 decades."

This exemplary gathering of Mercedes-Benz machinery will stand-out at Historic Festival 33 even as the grounds are graced with 280 vintage and historic cars in nine racing groups Friday, Saturday and Monday, and on Sunday when more than 800 vehicles of the highest calibre are on display for the Sunday in the Park Concours d' Elegance and its concomitant Gathering of the Marques.