1993 Classic Roadster Ltd. Marlene Convertible - Marlene II Roadster

Tribute to the Mercedes-Benz 500 K

5-liter V8 and automatic gearbox from a Ford Mustang

Body by Classic Roadsters in North Dakota

More than £15,000 pounds invested in 2015

Engine no.: 2732/105589

Paint: Beige

Interior: Leather red

Provenance:

07/09/1993 – Unknown, UK

18/05/2020 – Mark Vali, London, UK

Documents:

English V5C registration certificate (EU customs paid)

About the model line:

Often copied, rarely equalled. That may be true of many replicas, but not of the 300 SL built by Gullwing Cars Inc. of Gardena, California. Tony Ostermeier, a German émigré and former Mercedes employee, began recreating the iconic Gullwing together with Herman Quint in the early 1980s. His own original had simply become too valuable to use on a regular basis. It did, however, provide the perfect template for Ostermeier’s bodies, which are consequently almost indistinguishable from the historic original.

The bodies were made from aluminium and glass-fibre reinforced plastic, while underneath sat more modern Mercedes technology. The six-cylinder engine, suspension and brakes all came from Stuttgart, as did numerous other components. Power steering, automatic transmission and air conditioning turned the result into a Gullwing fit for everyday use. Ostermeier remained remarkably faithful to the original. Some of his reproduction parts are said to have been so good that even Mercedes used them for restorations. As a result, Ostermeier’s replicas are today regarded as the ones that Stuttgart at least tacitly tolerated.

Opinions differ as to how many of these Gullwings were actually built in California. Estimates range from 50 to more than 200, with the lower figure generally considered more plausible. Twenty years after its foundation, the company was dissolved. Today, Ostermeier’s 300 SLs have become sought-after collectors’ cars.

At the other end of the replica spectrum are creations such as the Marlene II Roadster. Conceived as a tribute to the pre-war Mercedes 500 supercharged cars, it at least shares their cylinder count and engine capacity—albeit with the cylinders arranged in a V. The engine came from a Ford Mustang, as did the automatic transmission. The rest bears rather more resemblance to an MG than to a Mercedes. Its polyester body was produced by Classic Roadsters of Fargo, North Dakota, a company that recreated numerous other historic designs as well. Thoroughly eccentric though it may be, the kit car, just like Ostermeier’s Gullwings, is above all one thing: a tribute to the great creations of Stuttgart