Anyone who’s remotely a fan of Mercedes-Benz performance knows the infamous Red Pig. It’s literally the car that gave birth to AMG – a 1971 Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL wearing the brightest shade of red imaginable, slammed to the ground, and stuffed with a V8 engine making well over 400 horsepower. It was a race car, of course, and a rather ungainly-looking one at that.
But it was absolutely glorious. And successful, too. Much has been said through the years about the Red Pig’s legacy, which our own Vik Vijayenthiran succinctly covered just last year. There was one detail he missed, but to his defense, everyone missed it. That’s because it was a secret known only to a few, until now. It seems the Red Pig had a sequel.
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Mercedes Designed A Modern Red Pig
Mercedes red pig showcarGorden Wagener / Instagram
Gorden Wagener, design boss extraordinare at Mercedes-Benz, recently revealed a modern interpretation of the classic Red Pig on his Instagram account. The post doesn’t go into detail, other than to say it was inspired by the original and calling it “the unseen Showcar,” with a capital S. The Showcar also makes an appearance Wagener’s book Iconic Designs.
There’s no information regarding powertrain, or the basis for the design. It appears to be a wholly one-off creation, featuring a chrome grille shining brighter than a bank of stadium floodlights. Speaking of lights, the old vertical lights of the classic 300 are recast here in LEDs, and the auxiliary lights look more like ring lights for home webcam setups. But that’s so not the point.
The modern Red Pig doesn’t have the slathering of early 1970s sponsor logos like the original, but M.B. Design Heritage done in yellow as well as the 35 roundels on the doors are nods to the race car. The five-spoke wheels are also race-inspired, and while its red finish is a tad darker, the modern pig is still as red as ever. Obviously, it never materialized. But it’s neat to get a look into the archives for a taste of what could’ve been.
The Legacy Of The Original Red Pig
Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.8 AMG, aka the Red PigMercedes-Benz
Before AMG was officially a part of Mercedes, it was a company on its own and this car was its proverbial foot in the door. The idea of something this large competing as a race car was, frankly, preposterous back in the day. Not only did it compete, it actually took second place overall at the 24-hour race at Spa, beating cars half its size.
That’s not to say the pig was infallible; the AMG team had some lucky breaks when competitors bowed out due to failures. But after that performance, people took Mercedes and AMG a lot more seriously. The rest, as they say, is history.
Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.8 AMG, aka the Red PigMercedes-Benz
Well, almost history. Mercedes is proud of the Red Pig’s legacy, and while a faithful replica is in Mercedes’ hands today, it’s not the original. After Spa, the race car ran a few more events with mediocre results, then was sold to an aircraft company to be used for testing purposes. Apparently, it was the only thing large enough and fast enough to test aircraft landing gear at aircraft landing speeds. That’s actually pretty cool, but sadly, at some point after that service, the car was scrapped.
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As for Wagener, he officially retired from Mercedes at the end of January, bringing a career of nearly 30 years to a close. The Red Pig Showcar, and other vehicles, can be seen in his book Iconic Design, available through Delius Klasing.
Source: Gorden Wagener / Instagram
