Stirling Moss, practising for the 1952 Mille Miglia in a C-type, could outbrake Mercedes-Benz 300SLs. But at 150mph, one overtook him “easily,” so he sent an urgent telegram to William Lyons, “… we must have more speed at Le Mans.” The imbroglio that followed was costly despite calm, careful, measured FRW England feeling Moss had “overstated”.
Bob Berry accompanying the works team to Italy thought Moss “harassed and tired”. The 300SLs were fast but faced trouble at scrutineering. These first Mille Miglia cars’ upwards-opening doors included the window frames and a portion of roof; it was only later that the ‘gull-wings’ extended over the stiffening structure sills. The race organisers quite reasonably worried that the occupants would be trapped if one overturned.
Berry played down Moss’s speculation the German cars could do 175mph. Norman Dewis who had been in the C-Type with Moss was circumspect. He agreed that the still-new disc brakes provided an advantage over Karl Kling’s Mercedes entering corners, but the Jaguar was left behind on straights. Moss never told him about the panicky telegram. Dewis could recall Kling slowly overhauling them. “But not with the phenomenal speed Moss was talking about.”
It didn’t matter. Lyons alerted chief engineer Heynes, who turned to his aerodynamicist newly recruited from Bristol Aircraft, Malcolm Sayer. More speed seemed essential on Mulsanne. Sayer lowered
