I've been suffering under the bite of the 356 bug for some time. I've read quite a bit about selecting and restoring a 356 and also about the various kits available. I've been lurking here for a while and I've had an idea formenting I wanted to toss out for discussion.
The 356 is a lovely car, but after seeing the amazing advancement Stephen is doing at Specialty Autoworks, bringing a new generation of drivetrain and utility to the cars, I was reminded of one of my all time favorite cars and I got to thinking about it again. (I'm also hankering after one of his Subaro powered cabriolets, but I'd forgo it for the idea below :))
Without a doubt one of the most breathtakingly beautiful cars of the last century is the 1955-1963 Merdeces 300SL (In both Gullwing and Roadster body styles). Wouldn't it be great, I thought, to have all the classical elegance of one of those cars with a modern drivetrain? The first that sprang to mind is the modern BMW 3.0L straight six (heresy I'm sure the Benz fans would say) and its matched 5 speed. This would provide very similar thrust to the car as it was originally endowed with. Then, on a more practical note, I thought that a C5 generation Corvette (Camaro?) EFI V8 and 5speed would also make a beautiful runabout in a 300SL Roadster body. It just seems to suit it somehow...
I mailed Stephen at Specialty and asked him what he thought of the idea. As others have indicated, I received a prompt, thorough, friendly and professional response. It would cost a ton of money, there was no clear market, and doing it from scratch would likely be a $500K+ project and require serious commitment. Many had tried and failed... He also mentioned DOT challenges (which I could likely escape as I'm not in America and I expect we could build it for export as a one off).
All valid points. But I don't give up easily. So I started scouring the web. I knew there were a number of companies that had done 300SLR replicas (to me, the uglier racing inspired version of the 300SL) but I wasn't aware of anyone doing a pure 300SL roadster. Information was very hard to come by. I knew there were a few attempts at Gullwings in the early 90's but I couldn't find much more than ads for older gullwing replicas that had long since left the inventory of the car companies listing them.
Then, I stumbled across a site in Germany and lo and behold, they in fact do appear to sell a compelete 300SL Roadster body, and if my very rough translation is accurate, they can also provide all the chrome and trim bits, the top and so forth. My curiosity was peaked and my excitement rose.
The company in germany is:
home.arcor.de/classic4u/scheib/indexD.html
(Maybe someone on this forum who reads German could translate for us?)
Knowing that Stephen and the team at Specialty Auto run a very capable shop and have completed many kits from many different manufacturers I got to noodling again. The site appears to indicate that a current generation SLK chasis and drivetrain and electronics fit neatly under their replica body. Not a terrible option but not as appealing as the BMW or even Corvette options. I wonder...
I continued my quest, energized that there might be more 300SL roadster bodies available. (With an original costing over $200K US I wasn't that hopeful). I did however find a company that purports to make Gullwings in Florida, and the photos look fantastic, although the site is a bit sketchy and I'm not sure if they are still out there as the updates were from 2001. I'll give them a ring some time this week to confirm. I still desire a roadster but its nice to know someone is also doing the Gullwing. You can find their site here:
www.tbccoach.com/infosheet.html
-Continued in another post, mine was too long :)
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