Mercedes 300 SE Rallye

[Michael M]

Would like to issue a topic which differs somewhat from the items normally discussed here. Although officially retired from racing after the Le Mans accident, between 1960 and 1965 Mercedes was quite active in rallying, first with the 220 SE sedan, later the 300 SE. In 1960 Schock / Moll had been European champion, which has been repeated by Boehringer / Kaiser in 1962. Unforgotten are their performances with the big 300 SE in the "Gran Premio International de Turismo di Argentina" in 1963 and 1964.

I'm interested in the case history of the works cars. Mercedes-Benz restored 2 cars, both in the 1963 Argentina outfit (YPF advertising), one is displayed in their museum, the other is used at various classic rallye events. However, both cars are not original, although this is claimed by some sources. Has anyone information about the original chassis numbers, or whether and where such a car still exists today? Interesting would also be whether one of the engines survived somewhere (they had direct fuel injection like the 300 SL, but block was aluminium instead of cast iron).