Mercedes used AMG’s Rote Sau to score a second place at the 24 Hours of Spa in 1971, but the car’s racing career was over once they couldn’t find legal tires for it anymore.
Jochen Mass did some parade laps with the Red Pig before his unfortunate accident at the Goodwood Members’ Meeting, and while the 6.8 AMG V8 did sound great, the tires got my attention long before the beast was let loose.
The Red Pig is a very odd race car. In its own time, more than 420 horsepower made sure it was fast enough in the straights, but that giant V8 and the weight of a passel of fat pigs also made it consume fuel and tires faster than a garage fire.
Five were made originally, and once AMG couldn’t race them anymore, the Red Pigs got sold off to the French airplane and car maker Matra, who tested some of their landing gear with them. If only there was a photo of that somewhere.
At the front, we’re talking about a set of 285/40R15s from my favorite crazy-size racing rubber manufacturer, Yokohama.
At the rear, monstrous Pirellis have to deal with all that unforgiving torque, and if I have to take a wild guess, I would say these were originally made for a Countach.
There’s a reason why small and light race cars are usually faster...
Photo credit: Máté Petrány/Jalopnik