New article on the Top Gear website about a poor 300SL Gullwing abandoned in Cuba. Abandoned Mercedes 300SL found in Cuba - BBC Top Gear Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'd love to know the back story of that car. Probably never know... EDIT: It looks like there are at least two Gullwings in Cuba, and this is a quote about one of them (from a google search): http://caristas.blogspot.com/2009/12/discovered-in-cuba-rare-mercedes-bird.html
I remember seeing print ads for the Peerless in Autosport and R & T back in the late 1950s I believe the chassis also was Triumph TR2 or 3.The fact that this is a left hand drive car would indicate that the U.S. Triumph chassis was used. It's nice to know there are a few of these still around.I believe the body was fiberglass? tongascrew
My 58 Ferrari Ellena in a trailer. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
there are 2 300 SL's that I know of, and a 300SL roadster that has been "restored" in Cuba (eg: they used Vw Beetle tailights) Also, i've seen on a documentary an early 356, possibly an A model.
Here's a couple Color slides I found of this car: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Regarding post of 07-09-2004, 01:52 PM J.McDonald Hey, this post is only a decade after your comment but I have to ask: Did Sydorick ever say what was paid for the Zagato? I think I saw the car at Sal DiNatali's shop once but only thought it unusual, not particularly valuable and even then it was don't approach the car because he was planning on salting it away for his retirement. I think the lesson learned here is: ask every mechanic who works on exotics if by chance he has one he "put away" for himself. In this case the answer was "yes"
Great thread! I think the Gullwing photo in post 351 is not staged, it just has the "Lambo door" mod installed (very popular on Honda's, Mitsubishi's, and 300 SL's)
Hi Tinpam, I'm very pleased to the see this Facel Vega come back to light. Your father's car was already registred at the Club in the 90' but no one saw it. This Facel II chassis B157 was sold new in Belgium in 1963 via Beherman. It is still in original configuration. Black / Gregio Glacé roof and beige leather. Regards Charles
A bit out of place I suppose but there's been a few other non Ferrari vehicles in here. 2 years ago someone posted this up on the Cadillac forum for a friend. Asking price, $16,500. I immediately contacted him and said I would be there the next day with a truck trailer and cash but had little other info. When I arrived I learned that it was being sold by the son of the original owner. It had been sitting in the same garage behind their house since 1978, when his father passed away. Engine seized, very dirty, horrible 70's repaint, dents, but nearly zero rust. I cleaned it up, rebuilt engine/trans/brakes and have been driving it ever since. Great car and everything works. Didn't even need any fuses or bulbs Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
My 10 year old is on the autism spectrum, and one of his superpowers is that he can identify nearly every model & year of Cadillac back to about 1941. He will go nuts when I show him these and that we "know" someone w/ a '59. . . . . nice work!
Very cool! And thanks. My gf is a teacher that works with autistic kids. Amazing what some of them can do. (photographic memories and such). Ok, a challenge for him then. Less well known and missing parts. My storage unit find Image Unavailable, Please Login
Long ago I met Paul O'Shea when he was with a race driving school, and had known he raced a 300SL but I didn't think of asking him what happened to his two open roadsters which were called 300SLS (not 300SL) and brought by his partner George Tilp to race in the US in '57. They had a side exhaust on one side, a special scoop near the windshield, maybe to ventilate the interior, a boot over the passenger seat, and a 300SLR type headrest. Some pictures I have seen, they had knock offs, other pictures lug-nut attached rims. I believe Mercedes hoped to enter them as "ringers" in the production car category but entered the first one and it was discovered it had an alloy body (previously only offered on 29 gullwing coupes) so it was put into the prototype class, but O'Shea won the Championship anyway. At some point the first car was smashed and sent for repair to Tilp's shop but only a week later an identical one shows up, looking brand new, so then it was known there were two. At the end of the season what became of them is unclear. One source somewhere says they were sold, one for $5,000, the other for around $7,000. But the Gullwing Group and other Mercedes 300SL clubs say nobody has ever reported owning them. My theory is that the frames and/or body was made of magnesium and after what happened in '55 (the magnesium bodied 300SLR going into the crowd at LeMans) it would have been bad PR if Mercedes was known to be fielding magnesium bodied cars in American racing. Another theory is that they were sent back to Studebaker in South Bend and when Studebaker moved to Canada, maybe got left behind? I have researched another 300SLS restored by a West Coast shop but that appears to be another one. My theory is that if either of the O'Shea cars is found, it would be worth a million dollars unrestored.
Paul O'Shea, SCCA National Montgomery, August 18, 1957: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
That Alvis was my Fathers car. I am shocked to see how it has deteriorated. No comment on the colour scheme! I still carry a massive scar on the back of my head from when it fell on me when I was 14. Any idea what has happened to it since please?
We had Fiat Dino a few pages ago, mine (#1042) was pulled from a barn somewhere in the US about ten years ago. Engine had spun a crank bearing and the transmission tunnel had been cutaway to receive an auto box (!) a project fortunately never completed. Minimal interior, no dash etc. It was shipped to the UK and I bought it from the owner who had too many projects on the go. Restoration took around six years. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
just watched this in my hagerty email. I don't even know what to say. The excitement to find a 275 and a Cobra , I would faint , and Retire