The magic number 200 in the automotive sector
When it comes to cars, the number 200 carries much more weight than some other numbers. As children, we used to press our noses against the side windows of our neighbor's car to see if he was going over 200 km/h. Of course, only a few cars in the 1960s had 200 on the speedometer, but some did.
After all, the Blitzen-Benz broke the 200 km/h barrier on November 8, 1909. With the 300 SL, Mercedes Benz also produced the first production car with 200 hp under the hood.
Much earlier, in 1901, the Oldsmobile Curved Dash was the first production car to exceed 200 units.
Even before the Mercedes Benz 300 SL, by the way, another production car reached a top speed of over 200 km/h. This was the Jaguar XK. This was the Jaguar XK 120, which was stopped at 125 miles per hour, i.e. 201 km/h.
Jaguar was also ahead in the production saloon segment, with the Mk II 3.8-liter from 1959 being the first saloon produced in large numbers to reach a top speed of over 200 km/h (124 mph). Incidentally, the 200 hp club was still a very exclusive story at the end of the 1950s, as we explained in another article.
While we're on the subject of speeds: Before the Blitzen-Benz, a steam car, the Stanley Rocket Racer, already managed a speed of over 200 km/h on January 26, 1906.
The aim in racing was also to beat 200 km/h. This was achieved as early as 1951 at the 500 miles of Indianapolis, when Lee Wallard in the Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser completed the 500 miles at an average speed of 203.17 km/h. In Formula 1, it took another four years for Juan Manuel Fangio to win a Grand Prix in Monza with an average speed of 206.792 km/h.
And Le Mans? At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the average speed of 200 km/h was broken for the first time in 1966 when Bruce McLaren drove the Ford GT40 Mk.II to a speed of 210.795 km/h over the entire race.
Because 200 sounds good, there were of course also a whole series of cars with the number "200" in their name, e.g. the Audi 200 (pictured above), the Messerschmitt KR 200 cabin scooter,Mercedes-Benz models from various decades, the Datsun 200, the Ford RS 200, the TVR Griffith 200, the Maserati 200 S, the Lancia Aurelia pf 200 created by Pinin Farina , the Goggomobil Isard T200, etc.
