Under the guidance of General Manager Gianvito Blank, the group arrived at the R&D department of the Mercedes-Benz plant in Brazil.
Affected by Germany's defeat in the war, Mercedes-Benz had a hard time in Germany. Therefore, when Fang Lang negotiated with Mercedes-Benz, he asked Mercedes-Benz to move its entire R&D department to Brazil.
This has resulted in the R&D department of Mercedes-Benz Brazil being very large.
There is not only a power research laboratory here, but also research centers for various new vehicle models and new technologies. The entire R&D department occupies more than half of the factory size.
It also concentrates almost the best technical forces and outstanding R&D personnel of German Mercedes-Benz.
This is also the main reason why Mercedes-Benz Brazil can quickly start production in Brazil.
The first place that everyone visited was Mercedes-Benz's new car model R&D department. The environment of the entire R&D department did not look as clean and tidy as the factory Fang Lang saw in later generations, but the workers were all wearing uniform work clothes printed with Mercedes-Benz standards.
This was a favorite workwear style for workers of this era, a cotton shirt and cotton overalls.
The workers did not stop their work because of the boss's arrival.
...
...
After entering the gate, Fang Lang immediately saw a vehicle parked in the middle of the R&D workshop. It looked a bit like an F1 racing car, with a baguette-like body, four bare wheels sticking out, and an open-top cab without a windshield.
The entire front face is an oval air intake, and the Mercedes-Benz logo is installed on the hood close to the front face.
With just one glance, Fang Lang could tell that this was definitely not the pre-war style family car he had just seen in the production workshop, but a real racing car.
The F1-style appearance said it all. But Fang Lang searched his memory carefully and could not find any impression of F1 events in this era.
In fact, F1, also known as the Formula One World Championship, was not held until 1950 at the Silverstone Circuit in the UK.
Of course Fang Lang didn't know this, so he felt a little strange about it and looked at General Manager Gianvito Blank and said:
"Is this... a racing car?"
General Manager Gianvito Blank immediately gave an answer to the boss's doubts.
“Yes, boss.
This is a car we specially built to reshape the image of our high-end Mercedes-Benz brand. We are ready to bring Mercedes-Benz back into people's attention by participating in world-class rallies."
Fang Lang was not averse to racing. On the contrary, he liked racing very much. After all, it represented pure speed and passion. Therefore, when he learned that the company's leadership wanted to enhance the brand image through racing, he also approved of it.
After all, all those high-end car brands in later generations have proven themselves on the racing track to achieve their subsequent brilliant achievements!
"Hmm! That's a very good idea, but as far as I can remember, there don't seem to be any world-famous competitions being held right now!
How about we bring together the three car brands under Fangyuan Group to organize a race similar to the Le Mans 24 endurance race in Brazil?"
This was just a casual remark by Fang Lang, because apart from knowing F1, he only remembered the 24 Hours of Le Mans Rally. The other thing that impressed him the most was the Nürburgring track.
In later generations, when selling cars, people would feel embarrassed to sell them unless they took them to the Nürburgring circuit for a run to show everyone how good a result they had achieved.
Although Fang Lang had never been there, as far as he knew, this track seemed to be located on a plateau and was famous for its many bends and high difficulty.
But the Brazilian plateau is no ordinary plateau! As for the many bends and the difficulty, isn't it simple? Isn't it enough to just artificially create such a road?
It was just a casual remark at first, but after thinking it over in his mind, it seemed to give him a new idea.
General Manager Gianvito Blank had no idea what Fang Lang was thinking. After hearing what Fang Lang said, he was a little surprised. He didn't expect that the boss actually wanted to organize a competition himself.
However, after thinking about it, he felt that there seemed to be no problem. After all, the three brands under the boss were not ordinary.
So, I quickly replied:
“We have received news that the Thousand Mile Rally, which was suspended due to World War II, will resume this year.
If we can get a good ranking in this competition, we will be able to make our Mercedes-Benz brand famous again around the world.
As for your idea of hosting a competition yourself, I fully agree with it. I believe that with the strength of Mercedes-Benz, no matter what kind of competition it is, we will definitely become the final champion. "
Fang Lang smiled slightly after hearing this. It was obviously not a simple matter to host a competition. If it were just his three automobile companies, what would be the point of playing around behind closed doors?
The most important thing for a car race is to have enough influence and give car manufacturers a sense of accomplishment. If you want to have it, don't do it. If you want to have it, do it on a big scale.
Create a world-class event that will attract global car brands to rush to participate and give them a chance to make big money.
Since I'm already planning to launch a Brazilian football league, why not have a more exciting car race? This will not only give Brazil's auto industry a shot in the arm, but also add a new racing program to my TV channel.
Why not?
Thinking of this, Fang Lang immediately decided to arrange for Fangyuan Media to start the relevant preparations after returning. If there is no venue, he will bring his Global Road and Bridge Company to Brazil to build a hell-level car track first.
Let the world's major automobile brands come here to try their hand.
As for the event that General Manager Gianvito Blank mentioned, Fang Lang carefully searched his memory and confirmed that he had never heard of the name of this event. He couldn't help but asked with some doubt:
"Are you sure this event has such a big influence? I don't think I've ever heard of it! Where is it held?"
General Manager Gianvito Blank saw that the boss was interested and quickly explained:
“This is an open road endurance race held in Italy. Since 1927, it has become the world’s most famous automobile endurance race.
It has a huge influence in society. No matter who you are, as long as you can achieve good results here, you will immediately be sought after by the whole world.
If we can succeed here, then we at Mercedes-Benz will be successful.”
Hearing this, Fang Lang could only nod. After all, he was not a professional, so it was normal that he had never heard of this competition. Since the company's management had unanimously decided to participate, he certainly would not object.
In fact, this thousand-mile endurance race, also known as Mille Miglia, is the most romantic and legendary racing race in the history of world racing.
A total of 24 events were held, including 13 before World War II and 11 after the war from 1947 to 1957. It was a world-famous international event in the last century.
However, due to an accident in the 1957 race, a Ferrari 290MM lost control during the race, killing fourteen people including driver Alfonso de Botago, and the Mille Miglia event was forced to be terminated.
"Very good, I support your idea. Can you introduce this racing car to me?"
Gianvito Blank seemed very confident about this racing car. He gently brushed the nose of the car with his hand, bowed slightly to Fang Lang and said:
"Of course, Boss! It's my pleasure.
This racing car uses our Mercedes-Benz self-developed inline six-cylinder gasoline engine, with a power of 215 horsepower, an acceleration time of 0 to 100 kilometers per hour of 10 seconds, a top speed of 260 kilometers per hour, and a fuel consumption of 15 liters per 100 kilometers.
It has reached world-class level, and with an excellent racing driver, we will surely achieve unprecedented victory in the arena."
Although Fang Lang felt that the shape of this racing car did not quite match his aesthetic taste, he had to admit that this must be a racing car with a very low wind resistance coefficient. After all, a cylindrical shape without even a windshield would definitely have much less wind resistance than the old-fashioned cars on the market.
Maybe that's why it can reach a top speed of 260 kilometers per hour!
Hearing this data, Fang Lang couldn't help but sigh. Mercedes-Benz has a profound technical foundation. Even after being beaten by the war, it still has the current technical strength.
Fang Lang didn't want to comment too much on this kind of racing, after all, he really didn't know much about it. After listening to the other party's introduction, he nodded in satisfaction and said:
“Are there any other models?”
Seeing that the boss did not show any other expression, Gianvito Blank couldn't help but wonder in his heart, is this satisfaction or dissatisfaction?
He didn't dare to ask, but since the boss had no objection, he just took it as the boss's approval!
Hearing that the boss wanted to see other models, Gianvito Blank hurried forward and pointed to the other side:
"Of course, boss!
This is the only model that has been produced, but we have already started the development of subsequent models. Please follow me. "
After saying that, he pointed in another direction and led the way.
After walking more than a hundred meters, Fang Lang followed Gianvito Blank and came to a large office area. There were no external machining equipment here. There were mostly desks and many engineers working hard.
Fang Lang saw at a glance that a car design drawing was fixed on the wall behind the office with a nail. The unique gull-wing door design shocked Fang Lang so much that he was speechless.
He is not a professional in the automotive industry and does not know when the gull-wing doors appeared. However, now you can see such a car with gull-wing doors in his own Mercedes-Benz factory. To be more precise, this should be a coupe.
How could this not make him drop his jaw? His original idea of coming here to give some advice to the designers was shattered in an instant.
Needless to say, he also understood that there must be many hidden talents in his Mercedes-Benz factory.
The streamlined shape with almost no decorative elements and graceful curves is different from the current mainstream design with a high front in the middle and two slightly lower wheel arch panels on both sides.
The two round headlights on the left and right sides are slightly protruding, and the middle hood is lower than the two sides. The shape of the entire front of the car has changed from the original convex to concave, which is definitely a subversion of the appearance.
The elegant gull-wing doors instantly attracted Fang Lang's attention, and he walked involuntarily to the design drawing.
Fang Lang walked closer and saw the big Mercedes-Benz logo in the middle of the front grille, with a horizontal line passing through it. He instantly found the shadow of a Mercedes-Benz car traveling on the street in the future.
At this moment, Fang Lang had only one thought in his mind, that he must have one of this car.
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