This Mercedes C292 is a monster that never got to roar

We witness their brilliance first hand but it’s still a regular occurrence to, when perusing the paddocks as the cars arrive pre-event, be in absolute awe of the operation. Locating the cars, talking to the owners/manufacturers, arranging the terms of their delivery. One such car that caught our eye in this respect, as others like it always do, was the Mercedes C292.

For the uninitiated, this is one of that special breed of cars that arrived a moment too late, as the disciplines and classes within which they dream to dominate radically change, or their manufacturers pull the plug before they get to enter. To call it a white elephant has negative connotations that just don’t apply, but the C292, come its birth, had no purpose. Mercedes, severely disappointed with the 291’s performance the previous year and disillusioned with the spiralling costs of development in the World Sports Car Championship, pulled out before the 1992 season began.

The new car’s 3.5-litre flat-12 engine featured an unprecedented level of sophistication in its electronics and was showing promise to seriously improve power output over the previous year’s car. With the Tag Electronics telemetric system, capable of transferring 5,000,000 bits of information per second, output was increased to 680bhp at a dizzying 13,000rpm compared to the 291’s sub-600bhp. 

Examining the bodywork and comparing the two cars, if not for the sharp and distinctive Mercedes silver hue, you might mistake them for not being related. If the 291 is typical (albeit highly sculpted) Group C wedge, the 292 looks like a set-piece from Star Wars… Everything about the C292 was bleeding edge, with the vastly more effective front aerodynamics evident in the hilariously enlarged rear wing obviously employed for balance. The rest of the car just looks shrunken around its underpinnings, as if to reduce air resistance upon atmospheric re-entry. This thing should have been given its shot to re-capture the glory of the C11s and C9s. It was looking like it could have delivered a vengeful blow.

This 292 is chassis number one of two built by Sauber, with the second residing as ever in their museum. This car, if not for missing ECU and interior instruments, could be good to go. The future might be bright, with the owner’s blessing, for this car to run. Modern electronics could give it a new lease of life. An appearance again at the recent Silverstone Classic tells us the owner is keen for this car to be seen. We take that as a good sign for rumblings to come...

It’s such a shame when such monsters are muzzled before they get their chance to roar but with any luck, we might see the 292 get to stretch its legs yet, even if that might be over 25 years later than intended. FOS 2019 anyone?

Photography by James Lynch.