The Silberpfeil Quiver

silberpfeil

Published 10/06/20

Just after I received my latest Silberpfeil, I stopped to think. Nonetheless elated to have another of the Flying Mantuan’s cars, I realized my Silver Arrow quiver might be complete! From what I could piece together, it’s possible that I now have all of the available Golden Age (pre-WWII) Silver Arrows in 1:43. Well, I’m not counting the Brumm and Whitebox models, that are, as a rule, basically garbage 😝. Of course there’s an exception to that rule, and that would be Brumm’s Typ C Stromlinie. Those are quite nice models, and I have two of them. In resume, counting the good Silberpfeile in 1:43, I think I have them all.

silberpfeil
Though Stromlinienwagen were for LSR attempts, they did race, in particular at AVUS.

However, there are quite a few W196 Stromlinie that I don’t have. BUT they are basically the same, only distinguishable by the number plates on each, and I own two. Adding to that, I’m more interested in the pre-WWII Grand Prix cars, so only two is good enough for me. Even so, I would LOVE to have Stirling Moss’ 1955 W196 #12 monoposto from Spark. However it comes with a pilot figure in the cockpit. Unfortunately I don’t collect models with pilot figures, so it seems my only W196 monoposto will be Fangio’s 1955 #10.

silberpfeil
My W196 fleet. All of Minichamps’ W196 are easy to find.

For what it’s worth, below I compiled a list of all the W196 (open-wheelers and streamliners) GP cars available in 1:43. Keep in mind that (to my disappointment) all of the Spark models come with a pilot figure.

W196 Stromlinie #1 - 1954 British GP (J. M. Fangio) - Minichamps
W196 Stromlinie #1 - 1954 British GP (J. M. Fangio) - Spark
W196 Stromlinie #4 - 1954 Berlin GP (K. Kling) - Minichamps
W196 Stromlinie #16 - 1954 Italy GP (J. M. Fangio) - Minichamps
W196 Stromlinie #20 - 1954 France GP (K. Kling) - Minichamps
W196 Stromlinie #22 - 1954 France GP (H. Hermann) - Spark
W196 Monoposto #4 - 1954 Swiss GP (J. M. Fangio) - Spark
W196 Monoposto #18 - 1954 German GP (J. M. Fangio) - Spark
W196 Monoposto #2 - 1955 Monte Carlo GP (J. M. Fangio) - Spark
W196 Monoposto #12 - 1955 British GP (S. Moss) - Spark
Le Mans, Mille Miglia and Rudolf Uhlenhaut’s personal company car.

And of course, there’s also the Mercedes 300 SLR, or W196S. I personally don’t consider them as Silberpfeile, since for me a Silberpfeil was a GP car. Well, there was that one that raced in Sweden…😏 However, since the 300 SLR was based on the W196 streamliner, some consider them as actual Silver Arrows. I have three, the Le Mans #19, the Mille Miglia #722 and the Uhlenhaut coupe. If you do consider them as such, there are a few more to get. But again, I’ll only list the good ones, so the Brumm/Whitebox/pw models are out. And of these, the Spark (with no pilot figure!) is only a “future release”*.

300 SLR #1 - 1955 Sweden GP (J. M. Fangio) - Matrix
300 SLR #21 - 1955 Le Mans (Kling/Simon) - Minichamps
300 SLR #10 - 1955 Tourist Trophy (Moss) - Matrix
300 SLR #658 - 1955 Mille Miglia (J. M. Fangio) - Norev
300 SLR #704 - 1955 Mille Miglia (H. Hermann) - Minichamps
300 SLR #104 - 1955 Targa Florio (Moss/Collins) - Spark*
Grand Prix rivals, a major part of my so-called Silberpfeil quiver.

While it may be true that I have all the current Grand Prix Silberpfeile, I can dream about future releases. I was curious and summoning all my Google-fu scored the web for news on new releases. To my surprise I found out a few announcements by Minichamps, though all Auto Union cars. Granted, there’s no guarantee that these models will ever be out, so who knows when (or if) they will be available.

Typ A Langheck #1 - 1934 Eifelrennen (H. Stuck) - Minichamps
Typ A Langheck #2 - 1934 Eifelrennen (H. Zu Leiningen) - Minichamps
Typ A Langheck #3 - 1934 Eifelrennen (A. Momberger) - Minichamps
Typ B #1 - 1935 AVUSrennen (H.Stuck) - Minichamps
Typ B #2 - 1935 AVUSrennen (A. Varzi) - Minichamps
Typ A Rennlimousine ("Typ Lucca") #3 - 1935 AVUSrennen (H. Zu Leiningen) - Minichamps
Typ A Rennlimousine ("Typ Lucca") #4 - 1935 AVUSrennen (B. Rosemeyer) - Minichamps
Typ D Stromlinie #18 - 1938 French Grand Prix (R. Hasse) - Minichamps
Typ D Stromlinie test - 1938 Nürburgring (H. P. Muller) - Minichamps
Typ C/D #125 - 1939 Grossglockner Hill Climb (H. P. Muller) - Minichamps
Typ C/D #126 - 1939 Grossglockner Hill Climb (H. Stuck) - Minichamps
The LSR streamliners – also rivals, but only in a straight line.

Nonetheless, from the list above there are some VERY desirable models. For me, specially the Typ D Stromlinie and the Typ B. However, being all new molds, Minichamps would only produce them if they were commercially viable. And since Silberpfeile are not exactly a mainstream theme among collectors, I think chances are slim 😥.

My first and my last Silberpfeil. Interestingly, they were also the first and the last Silver Arrows from Auto Union.

I can’t be sure any of these lists (both future announcements and available models) are 100% complete, but I’m confident they’re at least almost complete. Furthermore, there are also the kit models, issued in absurdly low runs and made of unobtanium. These are almost impossible to list and even harder to get. That said, from what I have and looking at the lists, it’s very well possible that I did indeed complete the Silberpfeil wing of the Garage. A complete quiver 😲! And that’s kind of sad, since from now on I don’t have any new Silver Arrow to look forward to. Well, unless Minichamps goes through with that list. Or maybe Spark could produce a few new ones without a pilot? They’ve done so in the past (and recently, in fact) so it’s not impossible, I hope.

The W154 #12 is not available to buy, nonetheless I made one for myself and it’s in the quiver.

Or perhaps I could make ones that are not available? Customize?
Hmm, food for thought… 🤔

*Update 11/13/20:
I just saw that Spark’s 1955 Targa Florio 300 SLR (without a pilot figure) is out!!!! Oh boy!

2 thoughts on “The Silberpfeil Quiver”

  1. Muito bom seu texto.
    Só não concordo com seu desprezo pelos Brumms. Foi lá que tudo começou…😉
    Quanto as 196 streamliners, a Brumm fez alguns modelos (muito bons) que foram carros usados para testar a aerodinâmica. Um com freio aerodinâmico feito as SLRs de LM, outra com um bico comprido para um teste em Monza e a última com “spats” tampando as rodas traseiras.

    1. Talvez um dia foram os melhores, mas o fato é que atualmente são ruins, para não dizer lixo. Quanto a esse de teste, fui atrás, mas é um pouco fora de escala (1:41 ou 1:42) e ainda com aquelas rodas ogogosas (não achei o de rodas cobertas). Apesar do grande interesse, não tive coragem.

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