Geoff, that is some great information that you have established a link to. One loses track of where something or other has its origins - incidentally, the Mercedes and Volvo 5 litre engines - do you know of their origin ? In addition, I was under the impression that all cars share a common body ? Am I correct ?
So how could you be referring to an E-Class Silhouette ?
A number of years ago, when in Europe, I attended a Rallycross event in the boonducks of the Austrian nowhere Hinterland - however, there were two or three 5.0/5.6 litre Mercedes taking part in the racing, and all had a Hanomag transaxle/differential arrangement. It seemed to be the mod of the meeting - Hanomag transaxles for some of the more 'expensive' cars. Do you know anything about that ? Thanks for your most useful links. Regards Styria