1927 Mercedes-Benz SSK 1/43 Rio The Mercedes-Benz SSK was a logical extension of the short S and the super-short SS models. It had a 7.1-liter engine, with a Kompressor, or supercharger, and it was soon notching up victories throughout Europe. Legendary driver Rudolf Caracciola won both the Prague mountain race and the International Tourist Trophy in Ireland in an SSK, and he won the Mille Miglia in a lightened SSKL. In 1928 the Mercedes SSK was introduced and commonly referred to as 'The Mighty Mercedes' and 'The Fastest Sports Car in the World'. The name SSK stands for Super Sport Kurz, German meaning short. The naming convention for the SSK typically has numbers associated with them, such as 700 and 710. This represents the engine capacity, 7.0 liter and 7.1 liter respectively. It used a modified version of the Ferdinand Porsche designed S-type chassis that, when compared with the S and SS models, was about 19 inches shorter. The K-Type was mechanically identical to the four-seat 'touring' car, the SS. The vehicle had been lowered and the engine moved back to capitalize on better weight distribution. The vehicle was powered by a variety of engines including the 7.1 liter supercharged engine that produced 225 horsepower, and later 250 horsepower. There was room for a driver and passenger, spare tires, and tools. The bodywork was mostly handled by the factory but often outfitted by European and American coachbuilders such Murphy. The final series was the SSKL. By drilling holes in the chassis, the weight of the vehicle was decreased even further, although weakened the frame causing many to break. The engine became more powerful, now producing 300 horsepower. It was successfully campaigned in 1931 but a year later was unable to challenge modern vehicles like the Alfa Romeo 8C 2300. During its production run, lasting from 1928 through 1932, between 31 and 35 examples were built with around half being factory-designated Rennwagens, or race cars. http://www.youtube.com/Ddimkas Reviews of the latest collectable scale models