1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupé 'Gullwing' Von Dutch [W198 I]

1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupé [W198 I] in The Devil's Hairpin, Movie, 1957

Class: Cars, Coupé — Model origin:

1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupé 'Gullwing' Von Dutch [W198 I]

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Author	Message
s13a ◊ 2020-05-24 17:31
dsl ◊ 2020-05-25 02:43	Is this .... um .... tasteful artwork a known custom?? Someone like George Barris??
s13a ◊ 2020-08-10 01:29	Apparently this was Earl Bruce's 1955 300 SL Gullwing and Kenneth Robert Howard (a.k.a Von Dutch) designed it. And no, the car community didn't approve of this very much.. Quote Having purchased what was one of the first 300 SLs in the United States, Bruce had it resprayed in a custom candy-effect Bronze which soon faded in the Californian sun. Meanwhile, Dutch had been applying flamework to motorcycles and racing cars for years (he recalled being inspired by the menacing schemes on WWI fighter planes), so Bruce took it to be ‘Dutched’ with the instructions “flame this thing to cover up the bad spots”. With the worst-affected areas being the rocker and sides of the car, the pair decided on a white ‘flamejob’ with yellow pinstriping running around the lower portions of the Gullwing. In Dutch’s own words, they “ate up about two cases of beer, a few jugs of wine, and about twenty-odd rolls of masking tape”. For good measure, Von Dutch also fabricated a grille shield using his metalworking skills (his knives are particularly collectable nowadays). Although revered in the then-burgeoning ‘Kustom Kulture’ community, the 1955 car was not well received by other aficionados. “After I turned this thing loose on the world it caused accidents,” recalled Dutch. “People couldn’t accept a flamed 300 SL Gullwing back then. They thought it was desecrating a shrine.” Perhaps most importantly, though, Bruce was ecstatic with the outcome and it only served to further fuel his love for 300 SLs; apparently he went on to own another five. (link to the article) (and another related article) -- Last edit: 2020-08-10 01:41:45

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Message

s13a

◊ 2020-05-24 17:31

dsl

◊ 2020-05-25 02:43

Is this .... um .... tasteful artwork a known custom?? Someone like George Barris??

s13a

◊ 2020-08-10 01:29

Apparently this was Earl Bruce's 1955 300 SL Gullwing and Kenneth Robert Howard (a.k.a Von Dutch) designed it. And no, the car community didn't approve of this very much..

Quote Having purchased what was one of the first 300 SLs in the United States, Bruce had it resprayed in a custom candy-effect Bronze which soon faded in the Californian sun. Meanwhile, Dutch had been applying flamework to motorcycles and racing cars for years (he recalled being inspired by the menacing schemes on WWI fighter planes), so Bruce took it to be ‘Dutched’ with the instructions “flame this thing to cover up the bad spots”.
With the worst-affected areas being the rocker and sides of the car, the pair decided on a white ‘flamejob’ with yellow pinstriping running around the lower portions of the Gullwing. In Dutch’s own words, they “ate up about two cases of beer, a few jugs of wine, and about twenty-odd rolls of masking tape”. For good measure, Von Dutch also fabricated a grille shield using his metalworking skills (his knives are particularly collectable nowadays).

Although revered in the then-burgeoning ‘Kustom Kulture’ community, the 1955 car was not well received by other aficionados. “After I turned this thing loose on the world it caused accidents,” recalled Dutch. “People couldn’t accept a flamed 300 SL Gullwing back then. They thought it was desecrating a shrine.”
Perhaps most importantly, though, Bruce was ecstatic with the outcome and it only served to further fuel his love for 300 SLs; apparently he went on to own another five.

[Image: von_dutch_flamed_mercedes_300_sl_01pop.jpg]

(link to the article)

(and another related article)

-- Last edit: 2020-08-10 01:41:45

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1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupé 'Gullwing' Von Dutch [W198 I]

1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupé [W198 I] in The Devil's Hairpin, Movie, 1957

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