Yesterday my employers had a company day at Mercedes-Benz World, which is just outside London. We had a company meeting, but it was to reward the employees. We are all contracted out to different companies and so we do not get together very often.
I had to get up fairly early as it was a bit of a drive on some busy roads. It was actually not too bad and I was there a bit early. Others were already there and we could get a coffee whilst we waited. It is a big 3-storey building near the old Brooklands race track. It is basically a fancy car showroom. They have all the current models, but also some more interesting vehicles on display including these Formula 1 cars.
I prefer this 1950's model as driven by Fangio and Stirling Moss.
In the lobby are a Le Mans racer, a Maybach limo and a prototype you can see better below.
The C111 was a prototype from around 1970. It had gull-wing doors and a Wankel engine. Apparently there are only 13 of these and all are owned by Mercedes, so it is effectively priceless.
I am not really a car person, but I can appreciate the engineering. Engineers would like this 'exploded' F1 car.
They also have a few classic cars showing off the company history.
They have lots of racing simulators and we all had a go at being Lewis Hamilton with a prize for the fastest lap. I was nowhere near that as I found it hard to stay on the track. Driving with your feet up in the air is strange.
We could opt in to a driving or passenger experience. I went for the latter where we were taken out in a 4 Litre AMG car.
They have several test tracks. We were taken on the the skid pan where the driver showed us how to control a car on a surface that was like ice. It was quite educational as he also demonstrated how to brake effectively on another area. He took us out on the track to show what the car could do. I have little experience of that sort of driving and it was impressive. He got up to 100mph on the short straight before throwing it in the corner. The rear wheels were sliding, but it felt like he had it under control.
I had a look in their merchandise shop, but I would not generally wear anything with car logos on. A baseball cap was £40! That shows the sort of customers they get, but then some will be paying over £100,000 for their car. If you buy an AMG model you can pick it up there and get some training. I have no plans to buy a Mercedes, but their electric models seemed impressive. They are just too expensive and some are bigger than I would want.
Lunch was a BBQ on the upper terrace, but there was a lack of veggie options. I had a good chat with various people. It was a really warm day, but a little windy. It would have been very different a few days earlier when we had heavy rain.
I had a long drive home despite trying to leave before rush hour. The M25 motorway was clogged up. I used to drive into London every day for work and am so glad I do not do that any more. It was a good day out overall, but I was really tired when I got home.
