This is a rare multimedia construction kit in 1:20 scale by Revival of Italy, complete and brand new in original packaging, Revival item number 77101.

The W163 Mercedes was a development of the famous W154 and was raced in the final years before the war by the German team. It featured the M163 engine which was an awesome piece of engineering. It was a 60 degree three litre V12, with double overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder (mercury filled exhausts). Two stage supercharging was employed, and the engine burned a mixture of methyl alcohol, nitro benzine, acetone and sulphuric ether to give a power output of around 480 bhp at 7,500 rpm.

On the outside the W163 differed from the W154 with a lower and lighter body made from duralumin, and it also featured newly designed finned drum brakes and a glycol filled cooling system.

The definitive race performance of the W163 was at the 1939 German Grand Prix held at the Nurburgring on July 23, 1939. Hermann Lang, Manfred von Brauchitsch and Rudolf Caracciola practiced fastest with times between 9:43 and 9:56 for the 22.81 km lap, and started the race three abreast on the front row of the grid.

Caracciola went on to win completing the 22 laps in just over four hours.

This Revival kit captures Caracciola's Mercedes beautifully in every detail. The metal body shell parts are pre-painted in authentic metallic silver, and all the other details are there, including diecast metal parts for the chassis, engine, some suspension components plus numerous metal screws, springs, rods and other miscellaneous parts. Other parts are made out of plastic, rubber and other materials where appropriate to enable an accurate model to be constructed with minute detail.

The wheels and tyres are particularly good, with accurate Pirelli race tyre pattern on the rubber tyres plus the very best pre-constructed wire wheels you will ever see. These wheels are all metal and pre-assembled by Revival with a patented process, the spokes are very fine and to scale and the metal hubs and rims are very realistic - together these wheels and tyres really finish these models off beautifully.

Revival construction kits are predominantly diecast metal and are only produced in limited quantities. The main body shell parts are metal and also pre-painted in the correct colours. All other parts require painting and finishing as with any kit. These are collectors items and are recommended for serious modellers. This item is brand new in original unmarked packaging.