Mercedes-Benz
450 SLC 5.0 rally works cars

Why it matters

The 450 SLC 5.0 rally cars were the works rally programme of Mercedes-Benz, a company that had stayed away from top-level motorsport for almost two decades. Bearing an all-aluminium V8 and a special automatic transmission, they gave the manufacturer the first World Rally Championship event win with a V8 engine and with an automatic gearbox, at the 1979 Rallye Bandama Cote d'Ivoire. Bjorn Waldegard's second place there gave him the 1979 world drivers' title.

How rare is it?

Six separate kinds of rarity – never combined into one number.

Each kind of rarity is rated separately and never combined.

Production

Every figure says what it counts.

Independent counts (e.g. engine and colour) are never combined into a calculated figure. Surviving examples are never presented as original production.

History

RM Sotheby's and Bonhams state that Mercedes-Benz built 19 cars exclusively for international rallying, seven of them badged 450 SLC 5.0, each with a specially developed automatic gearbox. The rally car was developed by engineer Dr Erich Waxenberger. Artcurial describes it differently: five cars with consecutive chassis numbers 626 to 630 for the 1979 season, then two more (836 and 837); after 1979 all but number 628 were destroyed because of the new 500 model, and six further 500 SLC rally cars were built for 1980.

Results quoted in the catalogues include a 1-2-3-4 Mercedes finish at the 1979 Bandama rally and, for chassis 836, third place at the 1980 Safari Rally. Chassis 626 started only once, at the 1980 Rally Codasur in Argentina, finishing second. The rally programme ended after the 1980 Bandama rally, where chassis 628 finished fifth. Dr Waxenberger then sold the remaining partly dismantled cars and equipment to a private buyer, and in 2007 SLCRacing bought the complete stock.

Technical specifications

Engine

Transmission & drivetrain

Chassis, body & dimensions

Performance

“Not yet verified” means no source has been checked for that value yet. Nothing is estimated to fill a gap.

Identification guide

How to tell an original from a replica or later conversion.

Documented works cars carry the chassis prefix 107 026 12 000 followed by a rally number, for example 626, and the cars were registered by the factory (chassis 628 registered to Daimler-Benz AG with plate S-DP 1908; chassis 836 with S-DV 9032). Rally specification includes aluminium bonnet and boot lid with thinner steel doors, supplementary oil and coolant cooling, a roll cage, a 120-litre fibreglass fuel tank with dual fuel system, OMP bucket seats, a hand-adjusted brake balance, hydraulic handbrake and an aluminium V8 quoted at more than 330 bhp.

The survival picture is contested: Bonhams says chassis 626 was recorded as scrapped in March 1981 and later reconstituted by SLCRacing, which also owned the identity of chassis 837, while Artcurial says only 628 escaped destruction. Factory papers, FIA documents and period photographs are the reliable proof of a car's identity.

Sources

Each number links to the exact facts it supports.

1. 1
   RM Sotheby's – 1979 Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC 5.0 'Rallyewagen' (Monaco 2024) Level B

   • 19 Works SLC rally cars ('Mercedes-Benz built 19 examples exclusively for use in international rallying, with only seven badged as a 450 SLC 5.0')

   Accessed 2026-11-12
2. 2
   1979 Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC 5.0 'Rallyewagen', Monaco 2024 Level C RM Sotheby's

   • powered by a new all-aluminium 5.0-litre V-8
   • each equipped with a specially developed automatic transmission
   • alloy bonnet and boot panels ... The doors remained steel, but it was thinner

   Accessed 2026-11-12
3. 3
   Mercedes-Benz 450/500 SLC rally car, chassis 628 (Artcurial sale 4315, lot 235) Level C Artcurial

   • un moteur en aluminium de plus de 330 ch
   • réservoir de carburant de 120 litres en fibre de verre

   Accessed 2026-11-12