“Yes Virginia, unicorns do exist.” Well, ones made of metal, glass, and rubber at least.
Back in 2018, Bob Torre Jr. and Randy Elber had just recently opened their shop R&R Restorations in Mount Kisco, New York. Word filtered into the shop about a 1950s-era Mercedes sitting in a building not more than 30 miles from the shop. The first description was the car was in a body shop in pieces, but then they heard it was at the owner’s house. The final word was that the car was at the owner’s business, Double Z Motors, a breaking yard in Fishkill, New York.
The pair were intrigued, and it was not too far away so they took a drive. On the way they wondered what the mystery car could be. Perhaps a 190SL, maybe a 300D or a 300SC, or could it possibly be a 300SL roadster?
It was something more. The car was one of those legendary unicorns: a 1955 300SL gullwing that had been stored in the building since 1974.
The backstory
Peter Zalys was a high school senior when the Gullwing came into his life. Peter’s dad was the owner of the business at the time, and he nurtured a love of exotic cars. He had found and saved a number of cars throughout the years. While scanning the Sunday New York Times, Peter came across a tiny ad offering a Gullwing Mercedes for sale. The price was pretty steep for an old used car: $7,000.00. Peter and his dad decided to take a drive up to Albany, New York and have a look. The Gullwing came home with them.
Peter started driving it to school, but instead of causing a big sensation, the German sports car was barely noticed, because his classmates were into their muscle cars.
Then Peter went off to college with the Mercedes as his daily driver, but the Gullwing had to be parked on the street as first-year students could not keep a car on campus. It became more trouble than it was worth, and at the same time the fuel injection pump started to run rich. Another pain was having to open the door to pay the toll on the Tappan Zee bridge; admittedly a first-world problem.
But instead of selling it on, the gullwing got stored at the breaking yard with the idea that the mechanical woes would be resolved later, and Peter went on to find a more practical daily driver.
The business later moved and the gullwing went along with it. In the new building, it had its own lift. A cover was thrown over the classic Benz, it was raised up, and there it sat for decades.
The last barn find
Peter always had a plan that someday he would resurrect the Mercedes, but the business, life, and other projects always seemed to be first priority, so the car just sat.
Eventually, Peter started having health issues and after lengthy discussions with his wife, he came to the conclusion that the gullwing deserved a new home. But Peter wanted it to go to the right home. He didn’t want some flipper to descend on it to make a quick buck and he didn’t want the machine that he had loved for so many years go under the gavel of an auction house to be sold off to the highest bidder. He wanted someone who would respect the car as much as he had for so many years.
Over the years a few people had heard of the car and had made offers, but the people never felt like the right adopters for Peter’s Mercedes. So when Torre and Elber arrived at Double Z with Torre’s son Robert in tow, Peter off-handedly told them the car was in the back. Torre sat down to talk with Peter while Elber and Robert went to look the car over. If you looked past the layers of dust, a few dents, and the flaking paint, you were looking at a thoroughbred, a superbly solid car that had never been apart, a time capsule survivor.
Torre explained to Peter what he had in mind for the gullwing. He didn’t plan to make it a 100-point concours restoration trailer queen; he wanted to preserve the patina and bring the car back to the magnificent driving machine it was. Torre had been lusting after a Gullwing for so long there was no chance the car would ever leave him.
Peter had found the right person to be the new owner. Torre, Elber and their mechanic Oliver Morris were going to resurrect the 300SL and do the things that Peter had planned to do for years, but never was able to find time to do.
They shook hands and the deal was made.
Emerging from storage
The day arrived when the gullwing would be disinterred and be out in the sunshine for the first time in 44 years. To everyone’s surprise the ancient tires held air, and the brakes were not seized. It was pushed out into the breaking yard and was surrounded by modern cars that had not lived as long as the Mercedes and were not destined for resurrection like this gullwing. Then it was on to R&R for a full evaluation.
The team hooked up a new battery and the lights, wipers, and directional signals all worked. All the gauges were in working order as well. A major clue as to how early the car was, its tachometer went from 0 to 8,000 rpm, compared to later cars that went from 500 to 7,000.
The engine wasn’t seized, but Randy didn’t want to chance cranking it after all that dormant time, so they started to disassemble all the major components. The engine was sent off for machining, all the perished rubber lines were replaced, the electricals and wiring were checked front to back, and the braking systems were inspected.
The only parts replaced were the gas tank, headliner, some carpet, and directional signal lenses. The car had a later star emblem, so R&R recreated a new correct-shaped concave star and new wings for the grill to be period-correct.
Other than those items the car was exceptionally original. They even reused the original wheel weights.
Making a second debut
The team decided that the Gullwing would be unveiled at the inaugural 2019 Audrain Motor Week in Newport, Rhode Island. To take things one step further it was decided the freshly refurbished Mercedes would take part in the 300SL Classic, a 1,000-mile run through the west.
With a week to go before the event in Rhode Island, Torre started putting break-in miles on the car. These were the first miles the car had traveled in more than four decades. Driving around the block carefully, watching the gauges and then heading back to the shop to look for leaks and other problems. The Mercedes was responding beautifully to all the TLC. Torre was like a child, champing at the bit to open his birthday presents. He wanted to go out and drive, but Elber kept him on a strict break-in schedule.
The 300SL arrived in Rhode Island with 275 fresh miles on the odometer and everywhere it went, the old gullwing drew crowds. On the tour surrounded by other shiny exotica, the time-worn gullwing stood out. Its personality made you forget about failing paint and dents. The response proved how iconic a piece of machinery this car really is. It was one of the favorites on Belleview Avenue, and of course the crowds loved it. If some thought it needed to be all shiny, they just didn’t get it.
The following day at the Breakers the Gullwing fit right in on the show field. This was the first year of the Concours and there were no other preservation cars to go up against, so the Mercedes was placed in the class sports car class from 1955 to 1959.
There would have been a few people bent out of shape if it took the class, but that was no matter as attendees thought it was brilliant and the gullwing took home the People’s Choice award. A perfect end to the weekend and a perfect way to celebrate its return from hibernation.
Peter Zalys was there to see his high school daily driver cross the field and be awarded a large silver cup.
But there was no rest for the wicked, it was back to R&R for another thorough going-over and onto a truck heading west to drive in the Mercedes Benz 300SL Classic, a 1,192 mile jaunt through Utah and Arizona.
Since its second debut, this gullwing has been driven more miles and been seen at some other shows and it given its new caretaker some wonderful memories in this crazy year.
