SUBSCRIBE TO THE
MAGAZINE NOW
Facebook-f Instagram

Super Leicht Gullwing

9 November, 2023

1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL 
A Kiwi restoration tale like no other. Two of the rarest cars in the world, found in the Waikato, then restored in New Zealand and one of them subsequently marketed overseas for a cool… $12,876,000
Photos: Stephan Bauer for Schaltkulisse GmbH

It’s fair to say that nothing much in the classic Mercedes world gets past Mercedes-Benz Club stalwart Garry Boyce so it wasn’t surprising to learn that around 15 years ago he had sniffed out an extremely rare 300SL lightweight Gullwing as well as a 1958 300SL Roadster hiding away in the Waikato. The cars were not for sale but Garry eventually managed to persuade the owner to allow him and his restoration team to take a look at the Roadster. They discovered a very distressed but largely unmolested car. The car was so original that the body had never been off the chassis, meaning most of the parts and fittings were still present and correct, as they had been fitted by the factory.
Garry had a quick look at the lightweight coupé on the same day, just a few kilometres away from the Roadster’s resting place. It sent shivers down his spine as he inspected such a desirable machine in a condition that could only be described as a basket case. After leaving the premises in a somewhat distressed state himself, Garry could only speculate on the possible fate of these cars — both dreams and, more probably, nightmares.

Later Garry ascertained the owner of both of these cars was overseas, having shipped the pair of 300SLs from the UK during the late ’80s, hopeful of eventual restoration. Garry’s continued expressions of interest and dogged persistence were finally rewarded when he received a call from the owner, saying: “I want to sell you the cars today!”
Both cars were then treated to an extensive four-year concours quality restoration by Mercedes-Benz specialist, Lloyd Marx.

Garry entered the Gullwing in the Ellerslie Intermarque Concours d’Elegance in 2015, scoring 564 points out of a possible 590 — the third-highest recorded score in the competition’s 42-year history — and winning the prestigious Masters Class.  The car also featured on the cover of New Zealand Classic Car magazine in April 2015.
Before the year was out, chassis #6500015 returned to London, whence it was originally sold in 1956. Aware of the car’s significance as one of just 29 alloy-bodied 300SLs, the new owner charged the Gullwing gurus at HK-Engineering with elevating the car’s condition even further. The work was finished in time for the car to be entered in the most famous automotive beauty pageant of them all: the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California. In the fiercely contested Postwar Touring class, it won second place.

That brings us to today. This outstanding example is now offered for sale by German classic car specialists, Schaltkulisse. According to Garry, “Irrespective of the current worldwide pandemic, high-end, high-quality classics cars retain their investment status.”
So, if you have a cool 7.5 million euros burning a hole in your pocket, then this 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL with some Kiwi credentials may just be an investment worth considering.
This article first published August 2020

Racing Mazdas

12 June, 2026

Both Rod Millen and Ron Kendall were rotary racing kings, emanating from the North Shore of Auckland, where I grew up. And the ultimate rotary techno guru was Bill Shiells, who developed the engine into a rocket ship while working out of Gulf Mazda in Takapuna from 1969, and later in his own business, Rotorsport. He began to extract some phenomenal horsepower from the enigmatic rotary engine. Bill was one of the first to race the Mazda RX-2 Coupe in 1971 and achieved immediate success, causing others to sit up and take notice, particularly the North Shore’s racing elite. They included Robbie Francevic, Rod Millen, Ron Kendall, John Woolf, John Le Feuvre, and Rex Findlay.

Range Rover CSK — the original SUV

5 June, 2026

The Range Rover, thanks to Charles Spencer King, went into production in 1970 boasting an iconic shape that would last until 1996. The vehicle that would create the SUV moniker came about because Rover decided it was time to add a bigger four-wheel-drive vehicle, one with a 100-inch wheelbase, to the model range. Land Rover made a 109-inch wheelbase model but the standard vehicle had a 88-inch wheelbase.
The new model would be more suitable for road use than the existing Land Rover, which was considered to be predominantly for rural use. To make sure it could cope on any road it came standard with the Rover 3.5-litre V8 engine. The body design was originally sketched by King and went into production with only a few minor touch-ups by the Rover styling team.
According to King, “The idea was to combine the comfort and on-road ability of a Rover saloon with the off-road ability of a Land Rover. Nobody was doing it.”