My Hero

[popowitz]

http://jalopnik.com/5915107/this-is-...mercedes-owner

[Bullethead]

Good for him. Slate gray with red cars need to be used.

It's funny that because of the "value" people put on things they think it's crazy to use, but they're just cars. Great cars, more rewarding to drive than tracking their monetary appreciation. We drive vintage every day by choice; the '60 300SL roadster has long been my "one if nothing else" car and would see the same treatment if we could afford one. Maybe one day...

[Frank Beck]

Oh yeah. He da man and a breath of fresh air.
How far have we gotten from the joy and spirit of owning a rare sportscar when one is called "crazy" for actually using it the way it's builders intended?

Excellent example of a man owning his car and not the other way around.

Thanks for posting!

[Chuck Miller]

Perfect..........

[Jim Garfield]

What a great attitude about the joy of owning and driving a such magnificent machine! My kind of guy, he's found the perfect use for his deep pockets.

[Reza]

he escaped the norms of the society

owning his car and not the other way around.

[mrgreenjeans]

he escaped the norms and found freedom is a thing of beauty.
I would not like him so much if he was an abuser thru neglect or daily torture, subjecting it to daily salt baths all winter long, or just picking up the kids at school to look cool, even if a hailstorm was approaching. Or going to Walmart and parking it next to the cart / cattle chute , right next to the front door where everyone fights to get a good seat.

He's using it with an apparent discretionary love, and excersizing it with care, appreciation, and with an air of calculated affection , an eye toward preservation and a heart of desire to do right by the machine. All the while enjoying it as he rolls on the miles.

This is an act worthy of commendation indeed.

[super9064]

[QUOTE=Bullethead;576431]Good for him. Slate gray with red cars need to be used.

I agree completely, I'm going to drive this one right now

[lkadams]

For a city of 1,000,000 in BF Nowhere Western Canada, Calgary has quite a population of 300 SL gullwing cars. I believe there are 5-6 here.

In a barn tucked away for a day when I have time, I have a 1969 MB 280 SE coupe. It was my father's. He bought it from an Austrian guy here in town who owned a chroming shop, and behind his shop was an old tin quonset where our (my) Mercedes lived before we got it. Stuffed in this quonset was some Misserschmitts(?), Borgwards, NSUs, an MB 300 SEL 6.3 and a 300 SL gullwing. I was probably about 12 or so when I got to see it (25 years ago) - it was the first time I was ever enraptured completely by a car. I still have a picture of me in my 12 year old glory (god the 80's were awful) sitting in that car. I never got a ride in it. The car is still here in Calgary under a new guardiuan who takes care of it.

Fast forward about 23 years, and I was at a cars & coffee thing here in Calgary with my then 4 year old daughter. We went because all the 300 SL owners were bringing their cars out. Sure enough that same car I sat in was there. As intoxicating as ever in its patina. My daughter was non-plussed with the show and I thought it was because cars were boring, so I asked her if she wanted to go home, or what was wrong. In a very small voice, with downcast eyes she replied "but I thought we got to sit in the racecars". Hmmm... how to handle that one. I said to her "Well, we can't sit in all of them, but I'll see what I can do". I asked my friend Mike if she could sit in his Ferrari "Oh sure" he says "go nuts". So she perked up after that. A few other friends let her sit in their cars (really, it's hard to say no to an adorable 4 year old sweetheart).

We wander over to the 300 SLs. There is one here in town - green, with a red interior with tartan inserts on the seats. It is stunning - recently restored for a large fortune. My daughter looks at it and says "I want to sit in this one". I'm kind of aghast. "Uhhh, no sweetie. Not this one. You can't sit in this one". I'm imagining the cost of anything she may break! The owner (who is just a prince of a guy - has some lovely Porsches, Ferraris and MBs) overhears me and says "Go on, let her sit in it. It's just a car - what's she going to do to it?". So to bookend my picture of myself, I have a picture of her in a 300 SL (I have to work on getting some pictures with the same one I sat in).

So yeah, 300 SL owners can be really cool guys. It's great to see the cars being enjoyed by owners who "get it". This video is fantastic.
Gullwing_T.jpg
Gullwing.jpg

[mrgreenjeans]

GREAT story and pictures.....what a sweetheart of a little girl

Hope she grows up to drive Porsches fast and proper !!!
And thanks go to you for inspiring in her a passion for all things automotive~~~~~~