---
title: Rudolf Uhlenhaut · HICONIUM
description: Rudolf Uhlenhaut in the HICONIUM register — one file carrying their credit.
canonical_url: https://hiconium.dev/people/rudolf-uhlenhaut
image: https://hiconium.dev/og/people/rudolf-uhlenhaut.png
---

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> On this page: [Driving as diagnosis](#driving-as-diagnosis) · [Tubular frame](#tubular-frame) · [Unused racer, company car](#unused-racer-company-car) · [One file carries this name](#one-file-carries-this-name)

People

# Rudolf Uhlenhaut

Daimler-Benz racing and testing engineer associated with the 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé

| Label | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Born | London, 1906 |
| Died | Stuttgart, 1989 |
| Nationality | German |

The record

Daimler-Benz engineer who became technical director of the racing department in 1936, later headed testing, and devised the tubular frame of the 300 SL (W 194). He was heavily involved in refining and using the closed 300 SLR later known as the Uhlenhaut Coupé.

Rudolf Uhlenhaut was born in London on 15 July 1906 to Max Uhlenhaut, Deutsche Bank's London director, and Hilda Brice, who was English. The outbreak of the First World War took the family from Britain to continental Europe and then Germany. He studied mechanical engineering in Munich before joining Daimler-Benz's testing department in 1931.

By August 1934, Uhlenhaut was head of Driving and Finishing; by the following April he was a test engineer in passenger-car development, responsible for the chassis and suspension of the 170 V. In September 1936 he became technical director of the racing department. His assessment of the W 25's chassis informed the W 125, with which Rudolf Caracciola won the 1937 European Championship.

In the early 1950s, as head of testing, Uhlenhaut proposed combining Mercedes 300 and 300 S components with a tubular frame and an aerodynamically optimised body. The 300 SL (W 194) used the frame he devised. In 1952, Mercedes-Benz finished first and second at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and first and second in the Carrera Panamericana with the W 194.

Sindelfingen body designers had drawn a closed 300 SLR as early as November 1953. Two examples were completed in summer 1955 for a proposed Carrera Panamericana entry and the 1956 season, but did not race after Daimler-Benz withdrew from motorsport on 11 October 1955. The first completed car covered more than 10,000 kilometres, mainly with Uhlenhaut driving; enthusiasts began calling it the Uhlenhaut Coupé in the late 1980s.

### Driving as diagnosis

In 1936, Uhlenhaut drove the W 25 after its drivers had reported handling problems. The testing exposed chassis weaknesses that were addressed in the W 125 programme.

### Tubular frame

For the W 194, Uhlenhaut devised a lightweight tubular frame of closed triangular sections. Mercedes-Benz combined it with standard-model components and an aerodynamically optimised body.

### Unused racer, company car

Two closed 300 SLR coupés were completed in 1955 but never raced. Uhlenhaut chiefly drove the first; Automobil Revue tested one over 3,500 kilometres in 1956 and recorded 290 km/h.

The stations

1. 1931–1934 Daimler-Benz Technical assistant, testing department
2. 1934–1935 Daimler-Benz Head of Driving and Finishing
3. 1935–1936 Daimler-Benz Test engineer, passenger-car development

The house

[![Mercedes-Benz](https://hiconium.dev/images/marques/full/mercedesbenz.svg)](https://hiconium.dev/manufacturers/mercedesbenz)

Credited through Daimler-Benz.

In the register

## One file carries this name

- [Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR "Uhlenhaut Coupé" Creator and chief engineer · Daimler-Benz 1955 €135M 1955 €135M Rating 100.0](https://hiconium.dev/vehicles/mercedesbenz/300-slr-uhlenhaut-coupe)

The files above are the register's own record of this name. [The people index](https://hiconium.dev/people) holds everyone the register credits.

Sources

- [group.mercedes-benz.com](https://group.mercedes-benz.com/company/news/uhlenhaut-coupe.html)
- [mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com](https://mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com/marsClassic/en/instance/ko/Mercedes-Benz-300-SLR-Uhlenhaut-Coup-1955.xhtml?oid=6881)
- [mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com](https://mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com/marsClassic/en/instance/ko/Mercedes-Benz-300-SL-W-194-1952.xhtml?oid=6855)
- [mercedesamgf1.com](https://www.mercedesamgf1.com/news/celebrating-120-years-of-rudolf-uhlenhaut-engineer-visionary-gentleman)
- [media.mercedes-benz.pl](https://media.mercedes-benz.pl/wyscigowa-historia-mercedes-benz--newsletter/)
- [press.uchicago.edu](https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/R/bo52772724.html)
- [de.wikipedia.org](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Uhlenhaut)