The 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé was named after which Mercedes engineer?

The 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé was named after Mercedes-Benz engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut.

Uhlenhaut was a British-German engineer who joined Mercedes-Benz in 1931 and later became closely associated with the company’s racing programme. He led the racing-car department and was instrumental in the development of both the W196 Formula One car and its sports-racing derivative, the 300 SLR.

Mercedes built two closed coupé versions of the 1955 300 SLR. After the company ended its competition programme, Uhlenhaut used one of the cars as his personal company vehicle, which helped establish the name “Uhlenhaut Coupé.” The cars combined a racing-derived space frame with gull-wing doors and a more enclosed body.

The name does not refer to a separate luxury trim or a later Mercedes designer. Bruno Sacco was a much later Mercedes design chief, while Fritz Nallinger was an earlier senior engineer under whom Uhlenhaut worked. The coupé is also often discussed as one of the fastest road-legal cars of its era.