There is just something dirty about taking a Mercedes-Benz, a car that stands for luxury, engineering, and a status that puts the owner on an imaginary pedestal above all other, lesser drivers and back-halving it while ripping out the original guts for a blood-and-thunder mill. You can almost hear angry screaming in German (an already angry-sounding language) once they catch their first views of the offender…all of the engineering for the Autobahn-ready suspension, gone, replaced by a four-link. The engine that was meant to hang around 155 MPH all day long if need be, removed and replaced with eight massive pistons turning liquified dead dinosaurs into noise and violence.
What started out as a 1972 Mercedes-Benz SLC 350, the Benz that Janis Joplin never got to see, went under the knife and got chopped up pretty good. The current owner can tell you all about it here:
Mercedes pro street 1972 Mercedes 350 SLC : coupe A very rare 1972 Mercedes SLC Pro-street. I have built this car over several years, now my time and thoughts are in a different direction. Here is a portion of what this car has and has had done, 1968 427 Big Block Chevy, complete with about 1200 miles. The motor is .030 over bored, internally balanced with 1968 Oval port heads. Mild summit cam. lifters and 850 CFM Summit carb. Aluminum Edelbrock intake , aluminum water pump and billet pulleys. The ignition is Mallory billet distributor and correct high energy coil The transmission is a Tremec 6 speed with 11″ clutch and double over drive? (.75:1 5th gear and .5:1 6th). I have no idea how fast this car will go. Mustang II front suspension with 2″ drop spindles, flaming river rack and pinion, stainless tubular A arms upper and lower, Flaming River manual rack and pinion steering. The rear differential is narrowed, disc brake Ford 9″ (31 spline) 3.50 open gear. Competition Engineering 4 link with coil over shocks and The tires and rims Weld prostar 15″x 5″ front and 15″ x 12″ rear. The rear were tires new 2017 and the front tires were new in 2016. This car has a 2″ x 2″ mild steel chassis front to rear. It is cooled by a 4 core aluminum radiator with belt drive Aluminum fan. It runs cool and has never overheated. The car has a simple hot rod wiring, That is one thing I would consider to upgrade, It is a fun car to drive and to show. The paint as you may see passable but by no means is it a show quality paint job. The paint it is about 12 years old so expect some flaws. the color is 1896 Ford Ranger Blue. I have driven it to several local car shows, It gets as many lookers and comments as any other car. It is so rare and one of a kind, you wont be parked beside another one. Ask all questions since I have built this car and know it inside and out.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends, So Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
eBay Link: 1972 Mercedes-Benz SLC 350
Yeah, I looked at it, but the ad SAYS bad paint and wiring. GREAT parts but I wonder about the rest of the build. Plus why not locate 450 SLC badging? THAT was the Benz of that era.
The 1972 North American cars were “450”s in that they came with the 4.5l engine but carried 350 badging. MB fixed that the following year.
There was a 1982 380SLC for sale here on C/L for $1500. Talk about something different!
Old Benz’ are cool. I had a 500 SEC. The coupe version of the big ones.
Could be a lot of hot rod fun for eight grand, but you would not buy something like this without an inspection in person. If the foreign suspension (foreign to the car) is installed properly, with good welding and engineering, you can fix all the other crap. For somebody who is tired of the small block swapped Jags.
Oh yes, no posi
I just knew it!
Yet another mouth breathing moron can’t see beyond any engine than the usual Chevy and forgets that Mercedes built motors up to 6.9 litres which would have been a better swap!
Garbage in, garbage out !