The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing was this insane two-seat sports car with doors that sprang upward, turning heads like no other car did. It was the mid-1950s and people weren't used to see that kind of showoff. However, a man asked for a 300 SL Gullwing, but he wanted no roof and no doors.
As bizarre as this request sounded, the S-Klub LA accepted the challenge. It wasn't like they had not heard strange requests before. After all, they restomod cars. It is their job to deal with untypical demands.
And this is what came out of their hands. It is a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL equipped with all the option features available in the 1950s. The restomod started out in life as a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing. The S-Klub LA team removed the top that had the hinges for those spectacular look-at-me doors. The customer said "no doors," so no doors they did. It is just the high and wide sill that makes ingress and egress quite complicated.
Their creation is called the Gullwing Speedster, and only half of that name makes sense today, but that's not the "gullwing" part. The car was fitted with the windshield donated by a Porsche 356 Speedster from the 1950s.
The Benz rides on HRE wheels and sports big Brembo brakes to make up for the extra oomph. Under the hood, S-Klub installed the engine from an SLK 32 AMG. It is a 3.2-liter V6 with a helical twin-screw supercharger and water-to-air intercooler.
Photo: K-Club LA
It delivered 349 horsepower (354 metric horsepower) and 332 pound-feet (450 Newton meters) of torque. It made the car run from 0 to 60 mph in 5.2 seconds under the hood of the AMG. Now, that engine has a new manifold and cooling system, but we are not told how much it currently pumps out.
The team used a lot of factory parts to put the restomod together. It feautres headlights, fog lights, the grille, logos, and mirrors purchased from Mercedes-Benz. The onboard mirror, which is also original, now sits on the dashboard.
The car has power hood, power trunk lid, power decklid, and power everything. It is painted in the elegant Nardo Gray over a constraining Petronas Blue interior.
The Los Angeles, California-based firm is selling the restomodded Benz. The owner doesn't need it anymore. But there is something that you should know about the past of the model. The previous owner took it to a rally and drove it on the road a lot as well.
So, what you are looking at is not exactly a garage queen. The mileage, though, remains undisclosed. So does the price, but you can contact the restomod experts and find out straight from them how much you need to pay if you want to show off in this former gullwing/current roadster. Too bad about those missing doors, though.
The team is now working on a Mercedes-Benz SL "Pagoda" build for the SEMA Show. But after a few burnouts and a highway drive, the car overheated. So, they will have to figure out a way to keep that car in one piece.
It is a car that the seller, a man from Tennessee, tried to build for his wife. But they did not like it anymore, so they sold it. Now, the S-Klub experts don't know what exactly they will do with it, but one thing is for sure. They have to get it ready in time for SEMA.
Google News