The mad wrenches at Brabus know a thing or two about taking a modern Mercedes-Benz and twisting the wick until tremendous power figures are produced.
Brabus isn't just about the new metal, as it turns out. The classic car division of the German tuning company exists to breathe new life into older vehicles. You can see this for yourself as a quartet of classic Benzes have recently received the restoration treatment. The results are stunning.
Brabus Classic grabbed hold of a 300SL coupe, 300SL Roadster, 280SE 3.5 Cabrio, and a 280SL Pagoda. If you have to pick a group of vintage Mercedes cars to restore, all four of these sit at or near the top of the list.
Let's kick this off by examining the legendary 300SL with its gullwing doors. Brabus Classic settled on a light green exterior over a cream interior. The green coloring continues across the instrument panel and perfectly compliments the lighter shades on the leather and steering wheel. Brabus states that a restoration such as this one will take up around 4,000 man hours. That makes sense when you realize every bit of the car receives proper attention, and that includes the 3.0-liter M198 straight-6 that sits between those gorgeous front fenders.
The Brabus Classic magic continues with a 300SL Roadster. If you prefer open-air motoring to fussing with gullwing doors, you will immediately fall in love with this one. The dark blue paint and color-matched wheels pair perfectly with the tan found throughout the cabin. As much as we love the gullwing, there's something extra special about the face of the roadster. Those front haunches seem to puff up a notch once you remove the roof of a 300SL.
This next Benz is for all you "Hangover" fans. You may recall the 1965 Mercedes-Benz 220SE that garnered a fair bit of screen time during that film. Prepare to one-up that ride with this more potent (and perfectly restored) 280SE Carbrio. Blue and tan work their magic once again as the two hues clearly are made for one another. Brabus Classic takes up to 2,500 hours to bring this Benz up to a level it lists as its own six-star restoration. That seems better than a five-star, and perhaps it's the Spinal Tap of restoration levels but we're going to allow it.
The final car in the group is a Mercedes-Benz 280SL. This is the famed Pagoda generation of the SL-Class, and it remains one of the all-time great Benz vehicles. What Brabus Classic have done with this particular examples borders on automotive art. A creamy exterior is the perfect pairing with a downright stunning green top and cabin space. Brabus Classic only need 1,500 man hours on this model, which seems like a working vacation next to the time it takes to produce the 300SL.
If you're interested in any of these cars, Brabus Classic provides a list of its current inventory on its website. That 300SL gullwing at the beginning? You'll need a sack with $2.3 million to take it home. The Cabrios run around $740,000, and the Pagoda is "a more sensible" $370,000. If you want a Benz with that extra restoration star, it's going to cost you.
A lot.
