Well considering that Kleissl has owned the car since the 1980s my statement 'recently' is very accurate my friend. I own a 300SL and know what I am talking about when I say Kleissl is the foremost expert in the world on 300SL. He is the ONLY one that does nothing else than 300SL. Kienle does all classic mercedes and Paul Russell does other cars as well. These three are considered the best, but the focus of HK only on 300SL puts him in another league. I bought my car from him and so I can speak from experience. I stand by my statements!
Like the fellow who publishes in this site with the old ads, I like to know when the car was at its cheapest price. I never saw a yellow gullwing, was that a factory color? Was it a lightweight alloy body car with knock off hubs?
I agree; Hans is top notch with regard to the 300SL.. He does do other cars but he is the Best of the Best.. and personally I think a better restorer than Kienle.. As Tongascrew would say "Just one man's opinion"..
Some more on Rubirosa: The playboy called Mr Ever Ready: Despite being short and violent, high society beauties from Monroe to Ava Gardner jumped into bed with Porfirio Rubirosa | Mail Online
I found the Rubirosa 300SL in England, bought it and sold it on to Hans Kleissl in the 90ies. Hans knew of course that Rubirosa had owned it. Regards Wolfi Dr. Wolf Zweifler Possartstr. 6 81679 München Tel.: +49-89-473307 Fax: +49-89-479042 Mobile: +49-171-6219059 E-Mail: [email protected]
Thanks for the link! A most entertaining and well written account which I enjoyed just as I opened a bottle of single malt, what I recall from previous articles is that he used to tell women that in the morning they would remember nothing so would feel no guilt...what a life he had whooohaa Those were the days! Best regards, Marc
After further research, new update to the list: Road Cars: * 250 GT Cabriolet Series II (#1561GT) - Car in which he died. Destroyed. * 250 GT PF Cabriolet SI (#0783GT) - Gift from Doris Duke? Now owned by Joe Hayes. Race Cars: * 166MM (#0050) - Raced at LeMans 1950. Alive and well with a long term owner. Name not disclosed for privacy issues. * 375MM PF Berlinetta (#0380AM) - Raced at LeMans 1954. Had a Chevy engine swaped in. Now presumed to be destroyed in 1996, while owned by Roger Wheeler. * 500 Mondial Series II (#0556MD) - Raced at Nassau 1955 and Sebring 1956. Now owned by Bryanp. * 166MM/53 (#0328M) - Raced at 12 Hours Reims 1953. Picture taken with Zsa Zsa Gabor. First renumbered by the factory to #0050M (already owned by Rubirosa) to avoid problems at customs office. Then renumbered again to #0308M for unknown reasons. Currently owned by Bernard Worth. * 500 TRC Spyder Scaglietti (#0660MDTR) - Raced at 12 Hours Sebring 1958. Unknown current status. Restored by Fantuzzi. Now owned by Ernst Schuster in Germany. * 500 TRC Spyder Scaglietti (#0706MDTR) - Raced at Cuba GP 1958. Once had a 289ci Ford engined swaped in. Currently has a 750 Monza engine (#0582M). Now owned by Marvin Schein in NY. * 500 Mondial Spyder Scaglietti (#0464MD) - Gift from Barbara Hutton. Raced at Carrera Panamericana. Engine installed in a Siata. Currently has an engine with no stamped number on it. Owned by Siemes, in Zurich. * 625 LM Spyder Touring (#0644MDTR) - Raced at GP of Venezuela 1956. UCar was involved in an accident in 1957 in Virgina (US) while being raced by David Cunningham; rolled and hit a tree. The car is currently missing. * 500 Mondial Spyder PF (#0438MD) - Owned by a short period of time. Raced at Santa Barbara Now owned by Dr. Ulrich Schumacher - in Germany * 750 Monza Spyder Scaglietti (#0440MD) - Raced at Sebring 1957. Now owned by Robert Brooks. Non-Ferrari cars: * 1955 Mercedes 300SL W198 "Gullwing" (#198.040.4500087) - Now owned by Hans Kleissl who owns HK Engineering in Germany.
I don't know what your sources are but this list contains a number of errors. 0706 MDTR was never owned by Rubirosa. At the time it was owned by Mike Garber of Hamden, CT/USA. 0464 MD: owner does NOT live in Switzerland. 0438 MD: NOT owned by Dr. Ulrich Schumacher (he sold it a long time ago). 0440 MD: NOT owned by Robert Brooks. Marcel Massini
Hello, Marcel; I sourced some of this information from barc*****; let's try to correct it before updating the list, then. 0706MDTR: Never owned by Rubirosa, but he did race it in Cuba in 1958, while owned by Mike Garber, correct? 0464MD: Does not live in Switzerland; what is its current location? Name of the owner still correct? 0438MD: Do you know what the current owner's name is and the car's location? 0440MD: Was it ever owned by Robert Brooks? Do you have more info on its current status? Thank you so much for your contribution!
Neither, 275GTBSaran; I just thought it would make an interesting thread. Being a Latin American, he had quite an extense (and interesting) Ferrari ownership history, which is not all that common; besides, when I first read about him on another thread here, on Vintage, there was a lot of information that wasn't mentioned... so I started this thread ;-) Oh! The fact that I'm VERY persistent whenever I start something truly helps! ;-)
A-ha! That website I first mentioned mixed up the data again. I'll take that number off the list on the next update.
0440MD was not raced at Sebring in 1957 and Rubirosa never had anything to do with it. By the way it was not a 750 Monza but a 750 Sport born 500 Mondial in 1954. A missing racing car in the list is 0580MD, another 1955 500 Mondial reputedly sold to Rubirosa in August 1955 but apparently never raced by him. Hope it helps.
New update: Road Cars: * 250 GT Cabriolet Series II (#1561GT) - Car in which he died. Destroyed. * 250 GT PF Cabriolet SI (#0783GT) - Gift from Doris Duke? Now owned by Joe Hayes. Race Cars: * 166MM (#0050) - Raced at LeMans 1950. Alive and well with a long term owner. Name not disclosed for privacy issues. * 375MM PF Berlinetta (#0380AM) - Raced at LeMans 1954. Had a Chevy engine swaped in. Now presumed to be destroyed in 1996, while owned by Roger Wheeler. * 500 Mondial Series II (#0556MD) - Raced at Nassau 1955 and Sebring 1956. Now owned by Bryanp. * 166MM/53 (#0328M) - Raced at 12 Hours Reims 1953. Picture taken with Zsa Zsa Gabor. First renumbered by the factory to #0050M (already owned by Rubirosa) to avoid problems at customs office. Then renumbered again to #0308M for unknown reasons. Currently owned by Bernard Worth. * 500 TRC Spyder Scaglietti (#0660MDTR) - Raced at 12 Hours Sebring 1958. Unknown current status. Restored by Fantuzzi. Now owned by Ernst Schuster in Germany. * 500 Mondial Spyder Scaglietti (#0464MD) - Gift from Barbara Hutton. Raced at Carrera Panamericana. Engine installed in a Siata. Currently has an engine with no stamped number on it. Owned by Siemes, unknown current location. * 625 LM Spyder Touring (#0644MDTR) - Raced at GP of Venezuela 1956. UCar was involved in an accident in 1957 in Virgina (US) while being raced by David Cunningham; rolled and hit a tree. The car is currently missing. * 500 Mondial Spyder PF (#0438MD) - Owned by a short period of time. Raced at Santa Barbara. Once owned by Dr. Ulrich Schumacher - in Germany. Unknown current status and location. * 750 Monza Spyder Scaglietti (#0440MD) - Supposedly raced at Sebring, 1957. Once owned by Robert Brooks. Unknown current status and location. Ties to Rubirosa pending confirmation. * 500 Mondial (#0580MD) - reputedly sold to Rubirosa in August 1955 but apparently never raced by him. Non-Ferrari cars: * 1955 Mercedes 300SL W198 "Gullwing" (#198.040.4500087) - Now owned by Hans Kleissl who owns HK Engineering in Germany.
Alright, Marcel! I'll remove his name next time I update the list. Do you have further information on this car's current status?
Interesting about Brooks. He did do the M.M. in 1989 #194 and 1990 #233. Presumably then he "leased/borrowed the car for these events from???? Thanks. tongascrew
No secret at all: It belongs since 25 years to Evert V. N. Louwman in The Netherlands. Louwman and Brooks are owners of Bonhams auctioneers. As is well known Louwman has a spectacular museum in Den Haag (The Hague) with dozens of cars including at least six Ferraris (#019 S, #02, #0440 MD, #0712, #6267 SF and #08031). Marcel Massini