DMC’s 1957 Gullwing Mercedes – where is it now?

[Dangermouse]

I recall hearing that DMC had a Mercedes gullwing at some point. Then I came across this late 1981 listing of DMCA company cars in a recent ebay ad from dmcseller

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DELOREAN-DOCS-About-Car-Eval-SUMMARY-CHECKLISTS-QUALITY-ASSURANCE-LEASED-CARS-/172071403648?hash=item2810414080:g:RnoAAOSwuYVWoTX C

Including a 1957 Mercedes Gullwing in storage, serial number A1980406500290 which should really be written 198.040.6500290

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=39494&d=1454536891

Does anyone know anything about this car; how/when it was acquired, what it was used for (presumably door investigation), when/how was it sold and where is it now?

After a couple of hours down a google rabbit hole I could only determine that it was actually a 1956 car, either titled as a ’57 or possibly it is just a type on the DMC sheet. But why would DMCA own such a rare exotic. Well, it turns out that the the average cost of a 300sl in 1978 was only $25k which would certainly have made it reasonable for them to buy it for engineering research

Reportedly only 308 coupes were built that year (out of a 1400 total for coupes and roadsters), so you would think tracking this would be easy, but no.

6500214 sold for $1.4 million
6500280 sold for $1.85 million in 2014
6500287 sold for “only” $430k during the slump in 2006
6500299 sold for $1.9M last year in a completely unrestored condition

This last one interests me. Supposedly it was in a storage facility in So. California for 30 years, last registered in 1983. Could the DMC list VIN of 6500290 be a typo for 6500299 ? mmmmm could it?

http://autoweek.com/article/car-life/unrestored-gullwing-fetches-400k-more-restored-one

of course this article makes no mention of JZD, but what are the odds of two uber-rare (<300 in the world) being in storage in California?

Or is it still there???






Also in storage with the Gullwing inexplicably were examples of these two things

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=39495&d=1454536892

"Salvio Jungla" is actually a Fiat 126 Savio Jungla (note the typos) this:

http://www.lanciaflavia.it/public_old_foto/1img-1222947376.jpg



Lohr FL500 is this:

http://cars-pics-db.com/pics/lohr-fardier/lohr-fardier-fl500/lohr-fardier-fl500-03.jpg

now, why would DMC have these?

[Jimmyvonviggle]

They are making plans to reproduce these as well.

[Rich W]

Checked with the MB Gullwing Registry a number of years ago and they claimed to have no record of this car.

[Dangermouse]

Do you have any more info on the car? Does it appear in any more documents to confirm that is the correct VIN?

[DMCVegas]

The Lohr FL500 was the proposed DMC-44.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtYgS2_S88Y

Another perfect example of how DMC was ahead of it's time. No one really cared about the market for this vehicle then, but JZD obviously not only saw the potential, but pretty much foretold the rise of off-road motorsports. Especially now when we have Yamaha, Can-Am, Arctic Cat, Honda, Polaris, John Deer, and others trying to get market share that 35 years ago DMC would have had almost entirely to themselves.

As for the Mercedes... If memory serves, the prior owner of that car owned a car dealership in Oklahoma City (or was it Kansas City?). I believe it was William Haddad who claimed that JZD "taken" the car away from the guy through some odd business partnership or some such story. If that is true, and that is the car, then if records are available a VIN check should trace it back to it's previous owner as well.

[Dangermouse]

Thanks Robert. I assume the Fiat was for a more civilized version.

[DMCVegas]

Thanks Robert. I assume the Fiat was for a more civilized version.

Possibly. My guess is that DMC was probably looking at both vehicles as test mules for the DMC-44 platform, and the Lohr won out.

Otherwise, I don't think it would have been all that difficult to modify the chassis to accommodate seating instead of a flatbed for cargo. Nor to accomodate a bigger engine with two more cylinders.

The drivetrain design of this thing absolutely blows me away as to how simplistic it is. And that along with the vehicle's construction is probably why it won out. Someone took a longitudinal transaxle and said, "Hey, let's put the engine and transmission in the middle of the vehicle, and then let's mount this thing transversely instead! That way rather than the output shafts driving power to the left and right wheels, they'll just go to the front and rear differentials!" It's completely brilliant. Of course that chain-driven steering system instead of a Pitman arm or other linkage counters that innovation... But still, amazing vehicle.

http://cybermanu.pagesperso-orange.fr/mylohr.html

[Dangermouse]

aannnddd we're back

Chassis 6500286 just resurfaced at a BaT auction, but didn't sell at $1.1 million

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1956-mercedes-benz-300-sl-coupe/?fbclid=IwAR3kNVxXhVmoiLYfSTaV1oXzwh7TYdt-5JhulDTRMluRXi7ap9iB_aEC7O8

which updated the list of surrounding "VIN"s to
Chassis 6500280 (1956) sold for $1.85 million in 2014
Chassis 6500286 (1956) didn't sell for $1.1 M in Dec 2018 in a completely unrestored condition Body A198.040.6500288*
Chassis 6500287 sold for “only” $430k during the slump in 2006
Chassis 6500290? (1957) DMC car
Chassis 6500292 (1956) car titled as 1957) Sold at RM Sothebys Amelia Island in 2018 for $1.077M Body A198.040.6500288*
Chassis 6500299 sold for $1.9M in 2015 in a completely unrestored condition

So i nthought I was no closer to identifying the Delorean MB, but then I noticed the body numbers.
* based on these numbers with the A prefix, I now think that the DMC car had a body number of A198.040.6500290*, but that may not have been the chassis number


Which makes me think that this is the DMC car - chassis 6500294, but Body A198.040.6500290

https://www.classicsportleicht.com/en/Cars/Sold/1956-Mercedes-Benz-300-SL-Gullwing/27

Delivered to the Studebaker Packard firm in South Bend, IN in April 1957 and was part of Robert Ponds collection (which included a DeLorean ) (https://autoweek.com/article/car-life/inside-bob-ponds-car-collection) in California before being sold by his daughter in 2011 ish. At some point after that it seems to have migrated to Paris, France

So, was this JZD's (Or at least DMC's) original gullwing?

https://www.classicsportleicht.com/classicsportleicht/Images/Cars/27/58c6ed36-8796-46d8-a8cd-5600f6179146.jpg?width=2000&height=1333

[SamHill]

So, was this JZD's (Or at least DMC's) original gullwing?

https://www.classicsportleicht.com/classicsportleicht/Images/Cars/27/58c6ed36-8796-46d8-a8cd-5600f6179146.jpg?width=2000&height=1333

I don't know but I love it. Even with a repaint, those seats are distinctive. We need period pics... so much talk about this Gullwing that was grifted by JZD and Nesseth but I don't know that I've ever seen a picture.

[DMCVegas]

What is apparently fascinating is that there are 2 different 300SLs that were tied to DeLorean. The first apparently was from his days at Packard.

https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2018/03/08/john-delorean-once-bought-a-300-sl-gullwing

It's an interesting little article on it's own, but it also reveals that JZD had a very early relationship with BOSCH mechanical fuel injection. Perhaps his positive experience with it at Packard was a motivational factor in choosing the PRV that was a modular engine with available K-Jetronic right out of the crate. Yunick absolutely hated GM's mechanical fuel injection systems, but BOSCH's apparently was outperforming carburetors of the day.

According to some quick googling (every year more and more obscure data gets compiled making research easier), this is the car dealer that JZD allegedly "swindled" out of the 300SL

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/gerald-dahlinger-obituary?pid=851599

If you REALLY want to track down this old car, I'd start with his next of kin, or perhaps the last auction house to inquire about it's records. The story is that the car was purchased in Wichita by Dahlinger, and when De Lorean took possession it left Kansas and then was shipped up to Bloomfield Hills in 1976. The aforementioned car cited here states that it had 4 previous owners. One of which is most likely the last car collection it was in. If you can track it's previous owners down to Kansas in the mid 1970's, and then later Michigan (assuming it was registered there), I'd say you've found the car.

[dodint]

This old article in New York Magazine puts the 'swindled' 300SL as a '56: https://books.google.com/books?id=AOgCAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA35&ots=gtYONPipVL&dq=Dahlinger%20Delorean%20300SL&pg=PA35#v=onepage&q&f=false

First full paragraph above the 'Family Man' photo and caption.