Mercedes-Benz 400 VMS

The Mercedes-Benz 400 VMS, internal type W 161, was the prototype of an upper-class car that Daimler-Benz built in 1938. The technical director Hans Gustav Röhr, who died in August 1937, had designed it but did not live to see the prototypes built. Its long-stroke V8 engine had overhead valves and a displacement of 4,003 cubic centimetres, and produced 105 horsepower, or 77 kilowatts, at 3,500 revolutions a minute. A four-speed gearbox with overdrive and steering-wheel gear lever drove the rear wheels, which hung on a swing axle with double coil springs, while the front axle hung on two transverse leaf springs. The wheelbase was 3,300 millimetres and the top speed 130 kilometres per hour. Two test cars were built. The Type 400 V and Type 400 VM were similar cars that differed only in chassis, engine and gearbox.