Rudolf Uhlenhaut

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Rudolf Uhlenhaut (born 15 July 1906 in London, 8 May 1989 in Stuttgart), was a German engineer and executive for Mercedes-Benz. He had a long association with the Mercedes-Benz racing programme of the '30s and '50s, and is best known for his road legal version of the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SLR race car. Uhlenhaut was born in London, during his father's term as head of the London branch of the Deutsche Bank. Later the family moved to Brüssels and Bremen. As an avid skier, he pursued his studies in Munich. In 1931 he joined Mercedes-Benz, working under Fritz Nallinger on the development of the Mercedes 170V. In 1936 Uhlenhaut assumed leadership of the race car department. Auto Union dominated the 1936 Grand Prix season over the aging Mercedes-Benz W25. As a talented driver in his own right, he was able to spot the deficiencies of the chassis and suspension, however he never raced competitively as he was needed for his engineering skills. The replacement for the Mercedes-Benz W25, the Mercedes-Benz W125, remedied the chassis and suspension shortcomings and was much more powerful.