Michael Satterfield
TGR Staff – 10/30/2021 | Photos by RM Sotheby’s
Since the beginning of the German Touring Car Series, known by most as DTM, in 1984, the dominance of Mercedes-Benz was unparalleled. The Mercedes factory team has secured 11 driver’s championships, 14 constructor’s trophies, and earned several hundred podium finishes from notable drivers including Mika Häkkinen, Klaus Ludwig, Bernd Schneider, Ralf Schumacher, Jean Alesi, Kurt Thiim, Jamie Green, and Gary Paffet.
Despite using the heavily modified styling of a standard Mercedes-Benz road car, Daimler’s in-house motorsports division, HWA AG, is the true constructor of all race chassis for works teams and privateers, including those for Formula One and the DTM touring cars like this one.
Unveiled at the same time during the 2007 Geneva Motor Show, the Mercedes-Benz W204 C-class and the HWA DTM chassis showcased an externally similar form. But while the cars might have the same shape, the DTM car shares almost nothing with the production car. It had to perform as this new car was replacing the winningest model to ever compete in the series, with 54 outright victories across 106 races between 1994 and 2006.
The C-Class W204 DTM began development in March 2006 under a team at HWA led by Technical Director Gerhard Ungar. Wind tunnel testing proved immensely tedious, but the car’s dramatic and lightweight carbon fiber reinforced plastic bodywork was finalized after several months of continuous revision. The chassis features a tubular space-frame construction with a steel roof, integrated carbon fiber safety cell, and inboard-mounted double-wishbone suspension at the front and rear. DTM rules of the time mandated a 9,000-rpm rev limiter, lightweight aluminum engine block, Bosch fuel injection, and partial intake restrictors to mechanically govern engine power. Furthermore, the car’s six-speed sequential gearbox was reimagined as a transaxle connected to the powerplant via an F1-derived carbon-fiber driveshaft from its mounting point in the rear of the car.
Like the previous W203 DTM model, the car’s front fascia hides a cleverly devised, carbon fiber isolation channel that feeds fresh air directly into the velocity stack intakes of its naturally aspirated powerplant. Lightweight alloy wheels from Motegi house a full set of carbon-fiber competition brakes from AP Racing, while integrated cooling ducts in the bodywork help keep components operating within their optimal temperature range.
For more see the full auction listing at RM Sotheby’s.
