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This Mercedes-Benz 300 SL is Built For Racing at Bonneville

What is most likely the world's only Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (W194) transformed into a Bonneville speed record hot rod has literally made our hearts pump faster. The following video even stopped them a few times (our hearts, that is).
Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Salt Flats Racer 1 photo
Photo: Petrolicious/YouTube
Filmed and edited by the perpetual eye-candy deliverers from Petrolicious, this – maybe too short – footage showcases one man's almost lifelong passion, to which we sincerely relate, albeit from a not as a “hands on approach” as he does.

First introduced in 1954 and manufactured in just 1,400 units, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gull Wing is seen by many as one of the world's first supercars, and surviving examples are fetching six or even seven figures at car auctions.

You would think that current owners mainly keep them in air-conditioned garages and only drive them on Sunday – if they drive them at all – but you would never think that there is someone who actually transformed an original Mercedes-Benz 300 SL into a Salt Flats racer. It even has a braking parachute. Yeah, we pretty much have a man crush on Bob Sirna right now.

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About the author: Alex Oagana
Alex Oagana profile photo

Alex handled his first real steering wheel at the age of five (on a field) and started practicing "Scandinavian Flicks" at 14 (on non-public gravel roads). Following his time at the University of Journalism, he landed his first real job at the local franchise of Top Gear magazine a few years before Mircea (Panait). Not long after, Alex entered the New Media realm with the autoevolution.com project.
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