MERCEDES BENZ SSK

By ENRIQUE SÁNCHEZ ORTEGA

They did not become more than 33. To our country an incredible quantity arrived, but very few survived and many less they could avoid the scythe of the export. But all those who passed through these lands had a curious and common denominator: they are all attributed to having been "the Mercedes of Zatuszek". In the case of this SSK (owned by Rodolfo Iriarte), several coincidences suggest that we have finally found the legendary monster of the 30s. And we were lucky enough to travel on it.

How many Mercedes SSK were there in Argentina? Thousand?

Nobody knows. But everyone saw many, many ...

Once, in a car sales agency that was in La Lucila, on Libertador (Auto Market), we got to count six all together and exposed for sale. If, on the other hand, we account for what the old and attached tradition of "guitarreada" has verbally given us, we could believe that there were many more. In one way or another, or whatever, the irrefutable fact is that they lived an important amount here. And to that there is no return to give. Possibly not all have been SSK and are mixed in confusion because of ignorance of the S, SS and SSK, and although there are those who say it, it is certain that no SSKL arrived whole and armed to the estuary in front of us.

There have been the models of the S series that have been, the quantity was possibly the most outstanding from overseas (with respect to its country of origin). Just keep in mind that the series were extremely limited and only 146 copies of the S type, 112 of the SS and nothing more than 33 SSK were built.

Now then. The most curious of all this is that all the SSK, or SS, or the race Mercedes that was, all are attributed a same fatherhood: Carlos Zatuszek. Any of these series with furious appearance or transformed expressly to give them a more rabid and career personality, all without exception were "for the popular myth" of Zatuszek.

The Mercedes SSK we have here today could not escape the inescapable either: this was also Zatuszek's Mercedes, although in this case there are certain guidelines that coincide to show that the car could have belonged to the legendary driver. To verify this, we begin by analyzing the possibilities of this being the case. Starting from the premise that, if the possibility is confirmed, it would be very nice "anecdotally" and nothing more. Carlos Zatuszek stormed our circuits when it was already predicted the decline of the Bugatti's dominance that, in the hands of Coppoli (especially), Domingo Bucci, Bossola, Forrest Greene and many others, became unbeatable in the environment in which they worked. . Owners of the Creole mechanics of the 20s, at the beginning of the 30s things were going to change ...

Zatuszek, consolidating himself little by little, would become the undisputed king of that decade, and when it reached its end he killed himself on his Mercedes while training for a race. The idol is dead, they say that, in the best European romantic style, they buried (physically) forever the murderous machine. A species that is distorted when Fermín Martín, Zatuszek's partner, appears, driving the same car with which his friend killed himself. He was accompanied by Miguelito Zatuszek, brother of Carlos, who was his companion at the time of the accident.

And here the trajectory of the "Omnibus" enters the nebula.

Some say that before burying the car they rescued the engine and some important mechanical parts from the burial. Possibility that would have its handle if we start from the hypothesis that this SSK that LIVES HERE conserves one of Zatuszek's engines (that of the accident or another) and that the chassis (not original) was redone at that time in Santa Fe with a perfection artisan so impeccable that makes reconstruction imperceptible.

The chronicles of the time open more possibilities: "The year 1937 comes and Zatuszek attends Rafaela, in a scenario reduced to 11776 meters, carrying a new engine in his Mercedes Benz and that could drive the machine to 225 per hour in an adequate line, the 190,285 established by him in the preliminary tests confirm what has been expressed and is valued with 180,094 in the race ".

Summing up: Zatuszek owned more than one engine and it is possible that, using one of the ones he kept in his workshop, they would have rebuilt a car.

This species is strengthened with the appearance of José Fanto to earn the 500 Miles of Rafaela in 1949, using the most powerful engine of the Zatuszek to drive his biposto with a lot of Mercedes SSK.

Taking the numbering of the engine "and some features" of the newly restored SSK, we can draw two conclusions: 1) Carlos Zatuszek, averaging the decade of the 30s, had Argentina brought, through the representative Mercedes (according to contemporaries) of the corridor), one or more new engines. That, without doubt, would be the engine of the SSKL series (the last of the dynasty and the most powerful), which had the advantageous characteristic of being supercharged by the largest compressor of all those equipped with the Mercedes of the S series. There were three sizes of compressors: the smallest for the S and SS and the medium for the SSK. The only model that brought the largest supercharger, the so-called "elephant", was the SSKL (which was only the SSK itself lightened and only a few copies were made for the factory's official racing team). This is the engine that Fanto surely used for his car in Rafaela. 2) It is possible that Fermín Martín, together with Miguelito Zatuszek, after the accident of Carlos used another engine and many parts of the car accident and exhumed to rebuild another car.

It is very difficult for this to be the car that now circulates again as in its more lively days, because the trajectory of that car, and especially the engine, seems to be permanently interrupted when Fermín Martín and Miguel Zatuszek were killed in the dramatic multiple accident of the Tres Arroyos race (November 13, 1938).

Fermín Martín traveled thoroughly on the "sucked" straight to another Mercedes, Olivari's. Due to the climatic characteristics of that day and the dirt track, a dust cloud was raised so thick that, at the same moment of the accident, the sports commissioner was preparing to suspend the race. The land that raised Olivari's car made Martin not see Plácido Ruiz's car stopped in the circuit. After the attack, flew the Mercedes through the air and, destroying between tumbles, killed his two occupants. Sad fate of the "Omnibus" ...

That was the most tremendous drama of our pre-war motoring. Misfortunes that contributed to exalt even more the legend of the brand of the three-pointed star (each of the tips symbolizes the records achieved by the brand on land, air and water).

There were not many who stopped to know thoroughly, beyond the anecdotes, what kind of car was that "Omnibus" exterminator, or why those engines, almost twenty years after being born, allowed themselves luxury to win Rafaela's 500 in 1949 and to confront the talbot of Fangio and Rossier with all chivalry the following year, giving them ground only when he had to stop to load naphtha.

Today this car that lives here is attributed a paternity that "for those telluric whims" tries to surpass the value that the car has for itself. A historical value of pure blood that emerges from the SSK for its exclusive mechanical characteristics, due to the fact that only 33 copies were built. What goes far beyond the simple "this is the Mercedes de Zatuszek".

The best story is the other one. The one that made me call by telephone one afternoon to Rodolfo Iriarte "more than six years ago" to say: "I found an SSK in Ciudadela, you have to buy it and put it together, I can not!" That same morning I had seen him and I could not believe what was in front of my eyes. There, within reach, a device that was written so much, mythical mastodon deified as a pure symbol of a moment and a way to reach sporting goals in the golden age of motorsport. And much more.

The fabulous Mercedes of the S series "derived from the previous K models, which were the first sports models that came out of a factory that in 1926, after three years of negotiations, manages to integrate the Daimler-Motoren Gesellschaft (who they manufactured the Mercedes) with Benz & Cía., merging their interests "they were the great work of Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, since together with the integration of the signatures, the acquisition was completed for the new Porsche firm, which in 1923 had left the Austro- Daimler to enter as technical director of the Mercedes.

The Mercedes Benz S were the only truly sport cars (sold to the public) that competed in international Grand Prix races as representatives of their country (today we would say Formula One International). A distinction only shared by the Alfa 2, 3 years later. Paradoxically, these S types and their derivatives were the last jobs of Dr. Porsche, before he began to operate on his own as a consulting engineer. Really few cars attracted so much the love of the enthusiasts as the SS (SSK or SSKL, its derivatives), which, apart from the innumerable triumphs in the race, enjoyed a design that was pure "motor on four wheels", pure mechanics. Without giving concessions to aesthetic exuberance. Of purely functional appearance, immediately suggested its enormous power, which is why they were also harshly criticized: the brute force in truck chassis. Sports provision based on monstrous displacements, few revolutions, "sport" trucks ...

A few weeks after its debut (June 19, 1927), the 36/220 model (type S) makes its appearance in an international race at the Nürburgring. One of them, led by Caracciola, sets the lap record. From then on, you will see them appear in the most important sport races, circuits and climbs in Europe.

Type S was a 6 cylinders with 6789 cm3 compressor. The compressor was designed by the same Porsche, Roots type; it did not come into action until the accelerator pedal reached the bottom, which caused the effect of a spring to be neutralized and the "pig" to start blowing. The aim was to achieve tremendous accelerations, could not be kept connected for more than about 15 seconds and in no way should be made to act at maximum speed. The Achilles heel of the car was already the poor (or at least "indifferent") brake system. They did not stop it. A drama that was continued in the SS and so on. A problem that the house could not solve until the day the last SSK occurred.

The engines of these outstanding models were, above all, refinedly designed (in terms of aesthetics). They were built, too, with a profusion of alloys and aluminum, the cylinder cover was not blind and had a camshaft at the head. It rotated at a maximum speed of 3200 rpm. The rods were made of tubular steel, except in the case of the latest models of SSK (or SSKL), which brought normal section H rods. The compression varied from 5 to 5.75: 1. The tree moved two valves per cylinder and this one operated by a gear control.

During the normal suction moments, the mixture reached the engine through two carburetors (Pallas brand) and the ignition was double, coil and battery lit 6 spark plugs on the exhaust side and a Bosch magneto, 6 spark plugs on the other side . Of the quality of completion and design of these engines speaks the fact that they only used a gasket: that of the cylinder cover.

There was a certain ignorance about the compressor of these engines that from Europe was extended to our land. It was in the conviction of all that any Mercedes had in front of the engine an "elephant" compressor, or a "big pig". Although, as we said, there were three sizes. All Roots double stage, which forced the air through the carburetors, as opposed to most of the supercharging systems that sucked the mixture of carburetors and blown to the engine. They took from the crankshaft and rotated at triple the speed of the engine. They were connected by a multi-plate clutch when the accelerator pedal reached "the table". This system did not allow vacillations with the right foot: at the time of stepping, one had to tread with everything and thoroughly. Doubts could break the coupling system. Its function was to climb at high speeds between changes in a short time.

The SS was introduced in 1929. The diameter of the cylinders was increased from 98 to 100 mm. The increase in compression, on the other hand, forced a redesign of valves and modifications to strengthen the crankshaft. The power, aspirated, was 160 HP, and with the compressor connected, 200 HP. Immediately the SSK was presented (the K for kurz, "short" in German, which indicates that the SS chassis had been removed 45 centimeters) with a larger compressor and high compression pistons (ratio 7: 1), which considerably modified the power figures: 175 normal HP and 225 HP with running compressor. And even this was not the limit of the robust engine. With another cross of cams, the pistons high and the "elephant", reached the real 300 HP in the official SSKL.

Based on these powers, the speeds reached were from the maximum 160 km / hour the S had to 195/200 of the SSK for sale to the public. Without the use of the compressor, the figures do not seem to say anything "Aahhh!", Given the tremendous displacement of the engines. Now, stepping on the floor, when the "pig" starts screaming (and, we could verify it, screams like a piglet when the knife is coming), it accelerates from 0 to 100 in 18 seconds, from 0 to 145 km / h in 45 seconds. A remarkable acceleration for 1930. As they said at the time, the Mercedes SS were not made to be handled by fools ...

We went to Mar del Plata in December and I was fortunate to accompany Rocha in the SSK of Iriarte, from Mar del Plata to Miramar. They two had been walking from Buenos Aires under one of those torrential rains that we had at the beginning of that month. As a permanent feature in the trip from Buenos Aires, they had to make permanent stages to change spark plugs: the beast devours them, literally. To top it off, the varnish of the magneto coil was melted and a paste was made that, when turned, turned it into an unusable mazacote. A quick and almost magical improvisation of Pichón Rocha, and the car went on its way with an adapted dealer. For all these reasons I could not enjoy it in its fullness. I had faults, but they were not so serious as to prevent that feeling of being fired with rockets with the wwwwweeeeeeee! of the pig that indicates that we started to walk in serious, despite the lap counter that climbs only until 2500 and the engine that sounds plop-plop-plop ... There must be the danger of the car. When going up, one enters in such a way in another dimension because of the size and the low revolutions, that in spite of going to 150 km / h, the engine turns to 2500 (this car goes to 60 km / h every 1000 laps in direct) and everything seems to indicate that we are regulating. At the time of stopping, the acoustic fantasy becomes reality as things get closer too fast. The SS and SSK remained in production until 1934, despite the fact that in 1933 and 1934 very few were sold. This one we had the good fortune to know and live on board is almost impossible to locate on the exact date of birth. Although this detail, like many others, is eclipsed by the personality of one of the most representative members of the European automobile royalty.

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