This is the coolest pic you’ll see today

This is a picture of a Mercedes 300SL 'Gullwing'. It has managed to hitch a ride on, what we at TopGear.com would argue, the coolest racing car transporter in the history of Ever.

It is the fabled Renntransporter, spotted here at the recent Monterey auto week in California and is the only one of its kind in the world. The original one was built in the 1950s under the strict supervision of Rudolf Uhlenhaut, designed to chauffeur Mercedes-Benz racing cars across Europe at high speeds from the factory to the track. Speeds of up to 106mph.

See pics of the Mercedes-Benz Renntransporter

But the "Blue Wonder", as it was affectionately known, was more than just a donkey to ferry around Mercedes' prized track warriors. The chassis was based on the Benz Type 300 and it sported the 3.0-litre straight-six engine from the 300 SL - effectively a ‘supercar' engine of its time - and thus had a power output of 192bhp.

Sadly for mankind, it was retired soon after 1955 but its fame brought it many new admirers who wanted to claw away at its blue-hued charms. Rudolph was having none of it, though, and decided if Mercedes couldn't use it, nobody could, and promptly had it crushed. This one you see here is Mercedes' own replica - built using photos of the original - after engineers spent over 6,000 hours of work to recreate the 50's trackside icon.

It has a permanent home at the Merc museum in Stuttgart, a place we sense you will want to visit very soon indeed. For now, feast on these pics.

Images courtesy of Luxury4Play and Street Dreams Detail

Want more Mercedes? Check out the S63 AMG and the classic 300 SEL AMG