Solved - NEH 2045: Chip Foose 300SL Gullwing

[Carnut]

What's this, by whom, from when - for 1 point?:

ANYONE FOUND GIVING ANSWERS GLEANED BY USING GOOGLE SEARCH BY IMAGE MAY BE BANNED FOR AN INDETERMINATE PERIOD!

[Carnut]

Experts?

[Delorean]

Mercedes-Benz 300 SL customised by Chip Foose in 2011 for SEMA ...

[Carnut]

Mercedes-Benz 300 SL customised by Chip Foose in 2011 for SEMA ...

Indeed it is.
but I don't think he started with a 300SL; what is it based on?
Locked for you to earn your point!

[fyreline]

No, it started as a 300SL. Well documented on Chip Foose's own web site.

[Carnut]

No, it started as a 300SL. Well documented on Chip Foose's own web site.

Thanks!
I've had a look at  his website and he does say they started with a 1957 300SL that they were asked to 'restyle' by their sponsors BASF.
I wonder how the art world would view it if the Louvre got someone in to 'improve' the Mona Lisa?  A new hairstyle, perhaps, more in keeping with the 21st century?
Our Lords and Masters take a very dim view of people defacing Listed Buildings, forcing owners to fit replica sash windows for instance complete with their draughts, yet people can do what they like to historically significant cars without a by-your-leave.  One day it might be illegal to molest them...  That's if any politician ever actually does anything useful..

I thought I had read that his Gullwing was based on an MGB, but I must have been dreaming (or perhaps just hoping...) as I am clearly wrong.  So, delorean gets his point and this is solved!

[fyreline]

I have to agree with you on this . . . What next, 22- inch wheels and a trunkful of stereo equipment on a BMW 507?  Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. There are only so many really nice Mercedes-Benz 300SL's in the world, and there will never be any more.

Now (in my opinion) there is one less.

[Otto Puzzell]

I'll probably get crucified for saying this, but The 300SL was no da Vinci to begin with.

FWIW, IMO, Foose' work here is certainly prettier than Mercedes' own SL's on sale today. And while SL's are rare, there is only one portrait of Lisa Gherardini by Leonardo. And, at some point, somebody could buy the Foose SL and return it to its original state.

[Carnut]

I'll probably get crucified for saying this, but The 300SL was no da Vinci to begin with.

FWIW, IMO, Foose' work here is certainly prettier than Mercedes' own SL's on sale today. And while SL's are rare, there is only one portrait of Lisa Gherardini by Leonardo. And, at some point, somebody could buy the Foose SL and return it to its original state.

There are of course plenty of examples of owners removing bodies and replacing them with something more to their taste down the years, from pre- and post-war Bentleys to Ferraris (how many 250 GTEs and 330 GTs are now 250 GTO recreations for instance?)

It's a fine line between what should be an untouchable classic and what can be a free-for-all, but whilst I agree that the 300SL was never the world's most beautiful car and has rather iffy handling, it has become an iconic classic and should have the same status as a listed buiding: untouchable!

[fyreline]

There are 300SL replicas available (not that Mercedes-Benz likes the fact), and it seems to me that if Chip Foose wanted to put his world-class skills behind hot-rodding a 300SL, he might better have considered starting with one of those. Then again, it was actually the client's car (BASF), not his . . . He just gave the client what they asked - and paid - for. So, shame on BASF.

As for the 300SL being "no Da Vinci to begin with" . . . Well, we are all certainly entitled to our own opinions but I doubt that one would get a lot of support from automobile afficianados. A 300SL is pretty universally recognized as a work of art, even if it isn't everyone's particular cup of tea. While it's tempting to say "To each their own", or to point out that you can do whatever you want to your own car . . . The reality is that current owners of certain cars are custodians of that car for future generations. They do have a certain responsibility.

Fortunately, it doesn't look like any of Foose's work is irreversible. Personally, I don't think the work that was done enhances the car at all. I would be willing to predict thay someday, someone will restore the car correctly.

[Otto Puzzell]

As for the 300SL being "no Da Vinci to begin with" . . . Well, we are all certainly entitled to our own opinions but I doubt that one would get a lot of support from automobile afficianados.

The dictionary says an aficionado is "a person who likes, knows about, and appreciates a usually fervently pursued interest or activity".

In that case, it seems that I don't know anything about cars, or that I don't like them.  

So what the heck have I been doing for the last half century?  

The reality is that current owners of certain cars are custodians of that car for future generations. They do have a certain responsibility.

In my mind, each man has the right to live for his own sake. And if his pursuit of happiness is modifying a car an aficionado has declared a work of art, then so be it. If he worked to earn the money to buy the car, it's his right, no matter what an aficionado, or even a hack such as myself, thinks or feels about it.

[Carnut]

Thank Heavens for different opinions.
What a boring world we'd live in if we all thought the same!

[D-type]

Apart from the paint job, and the trim, what other changes did Chip Foose make?  They must have been very subtle, as I my untutored eye can't spot any.

[Carnut]

Apart from the paint job, and the trim, what other changes did Chip Foose make?  They must have been very subtle, as I my untutored eye can't spot any.

From Chip Foose's own website, which I hope he doesn't mind me reproducing:

QUOTE
Later Tuesday we unveiled a 1957 Mercedes 300SL Gullwing that we were asked to restyle by our longtime sponsor BASF. We sought to incorporate some subtle, but significant, styling cues, including a new two-tone paint scheme. Featured changes include removal of the front and rear bumpers, which were replaced by custom fabricated units, a slight modification to the signature rear bulge above the rear wheel house, minor mods to the grille and grille shell, new side trim hand crafted from brass stock, machined, milled, filed and polished before final chrome plating, new headlight bezels and new headlights. A two tone paint job featuring BASF Glasurit 90 Line waterborne material combines an upper charcoal silver and a lower bright silver separated by an interior matching red accent line.
UNQUOTE

[D-type]

Thanks.  I did try and google it but although I found several references and pictures I didn't find Chip Foose's site.

(Memo to self - Must learn how to google better)