In 1968, Mercedes Benz introduced their first truly new post-war cars, built on the W114/W115 platform and referred to within Mercedes as the “/8,” after the last digit of the model year. In common parlance, that led to the nickname “Strich Acht,” or “Stroke Eight.”

Photo Credit: Damian Walker/Dragsterphotography.com

The cars were popular, with more than 1.9 million rolling off the assembly lines between 1968 and the end of the run in 1976. They’re so popular, in fact, that when you think of a “classic Mercedes,” the /8 is probably what you picture.

So it shouldn’t really be a surprise to see a /8 coupe transformed into a full tube chassis drag car, and of course when it comes to motivation, there’s no four or six cylinder Mercedes mill under the hood – it’s a stout 375 cubic inch LSX, fed pressurized air from a pair of turbochargers and burning methanol.

The “Stricher” (“Stroker” in English) is built on a Tim McAmis 25.4 chassis, and was only recently completed. In the video above we see the car on only its 18th pass down the dragstrip (and only the third full quarter mile) at the Hockenheimring in Germany, running 8.01 at 175 MPH.

A lot of care has obviously gone into the design and construction of this car, and we’ll be keeping an eye on Björn Lähndorf’s YouTube channel for future updates and more videos. Also, check out Damian Walker’s photo gallery at Dragsterphotography.com, where he also has a ton of other fascinating European drag racing shots.