Mercedes-Benz Destroys Replica of the 300SL Gullwing in Germany after Winning Lawsuit

One of the most popular models amongst replica car builders is the classic Mercedes-Benz 300SL, and all for good reason as only 1,400 'Gullwing' coupes and a little over 1,800 roadsters were ever built from 1954 to 1963, which makes them both extremely rare and expensive.

Now it seems that Mercedes-Benz and its parent company Daimler are not willing to turn a blind eye anymore and are taking legal actions against unauthorized replica builds.

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George Harrison's 1965 Aston Martin DB5 Fetches More Than Half a Million Dollars at London Auction

Some people seem to have Midas touch - whatever they touch turns into gold. That is true about ex-Beatle star George Harrison, whose 1965 Aston Martin DB5 changed hands for an astonishing £350,000 or about US$546,000 / €410,000, after a fierce bidding war from fans around the world at the COYS True Greats Auction in London.

The winning bid came from an anonymous Beatle and Aston Martin fan from Houston in Texas who said: "George Harrison would be amazed about all the money his car is going to raise for Christian causes."

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1960 Mercedes 300 SL Roadster Sold for €405,000 after Sitting in a Greek Garage for 37 Years!

It seems like the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL of the 1960s was a car that wasn't appreciated as much as it should at its time. After the lightweight special edition that was sold after sitting in a Santa Monica garage for 40 years, another example of Stuttgart’s iconic sports car surfaced, this time in the Greek city of Piraeus.

The model in question is a 1960 300 SL Roadster with an original hard-top, which was rare at the time since most open-top models were sold with the fabric roof.

The 240HP 3.0-liter inline-six-powered Mercedes car belonged to Greek racecar fan Criton Dilaveris who bought it second hand a few years after it was built. Mr Dilaveris died of old age in 1972 and since he left no heirs, all his property along with the car ended up to the city.

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Mercedes-Benz SLC Scooped by Reader in Colorado Springs

As Mercedes-Benz continues the development of its new flagship SLC supercar that will replace the SLR McLaren, we’re getting to see a great number of prototypes making their way on both sides of the Atlantic. Our latest scoop photo comes from one of our readers, Trip Godel, who was fortunate enough to spot a test mule of Merc’s gullwing door SLC supercar dressed in the usual Viper-esque sheetmetal during a ‘pit-stop’ at a gas station in Colorado Springs.

Unlike the SLR McLaren, the SLC will be totally developed by the German automaker’s AMG division as Mercedes-Benz and McLaren parted ways in 2007. However, the SLC will follow directly in the ‘gran-turismo’ footsteps of the SLR. Inside sources report that the SLC will most likely be equipped with a front-mounted turbocharged 6.2-liter V8 AMG engine delivering somewhere around 580 HP. Follow the jump to read what Trip had to say about his SLC encounter at Colorado Springs. -Continued

From Trip Godel:

“I spotted the Mercedes SLC test mule at a Colorado Springs gas station today. It DOES appear to be the exact same vehicle that you have shot in Germany. The engineers let me circle it twice and didn't pull the tarp over it until I whipped out my camera.

I saw the gullwing doors function and they appeared heavy and very impressive in motion. At first, I thought it was a prototype Corvette as it had Michigan plates. An SLK arrived alongside and its driver had to restart and move his car so that his own fuel filler could be reached. A nice piece of theater, perhaps? So, I thought I was looking at American engineers trying to pass their car off as German.

Then I looked through the grille. The bodywork that you see in the photographs is far, far forward of the actual Mercedes bodywork beneath. I could see a second Mercedes grille set WELL behind, with a large circular cutout for the logo. The real car is not nearly as long as the test mule would imply. Everything you can see forward of the front wheel wells, including the hood and headlight lenses, is patently false.

The interior was almost entirely covered, with the exception of standard Mercedes secondary controls on the steering wheel. The seats were racing seats and very thin--probably not production. The exterior door handles appeared to be stock Mercedes. The fuel filler door shares the same seam line as the passenger door itself. The brake calipers were marked Roush."

Kudos to Trip!

Mercedes-Benz’ Gullwing SLC Spied in Germany

Revealing its Gullwing doors for the first time on camera, the SLC is Mercedes-Benz’ new supercar that will be officially revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2009 with sales set to start the following year. The SLC, which is designed to revoke memories of Mercedes’ iconic 300 SL, will be powered by a front mounted 6.2-liter V8 engine from AMG delivering around 580 HP. Expected to weigh in at about 1,650 kg, the SLC is said to achieve a zero to 100 km/h (62 mph) time of around 3.8 seconds and a top speed of 315 km/h or 196 mph. -One more pic after the jump

Via: Worldcarfans