This replica of the #8 Karl Kling’s 1954 Cox Racer Grand Prix Mercedes W-196 is a rear-wheel-drive thimble drome tether car utilizing a driveshaft and differential. It’s powered by a Cox model Tee Dee .049 engine. Manufactured at the Cox plant in Santa Ana, California, this is the last W-196 tether car made at the end of the limited one-year production run in 1961. At the end of the run, employees were instructed to make all the cars they could until the parts ran out.
A family friend who worked at the Cox plant when the production run ended told Rich Palmer that this was the last W-196 she completed. Knowing that Rich used to run a W-196, she gave him this W-196 to replace the one he had crashed. Being one of the last cars assembled at the factory, it was missing the packaging, tether handle, and driver. Rich recognized that this W-196 was a one-of-a-kind and never ran it or even started the engine.