the german couple's car
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lothd — 18 years ago(November 28, 2007 06:36 PM)
Yes, that's right. The official name is "300 SL". though. The only car I ever wanted to own
and one of the reasons I like this movie.
http://picasaweb.google.com/jschulman18/Europe2007Part1/photo#50906128 69171248738 -
FilmNeedsMe — 18 years ago(February 11, 2008 06:14 PM)
Yea, not sure exactly which year the model in the film is, but its a 1954-1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing. It was a Le Mans racer, unfortunately involved in the worst motorsport crash in history as a result, and today it is arguably one of the prettiest cars ever made. It has always been my favorite car.
Ich liebe -
6325 — 9 years ago(February 06, 2017 03:15 AM)
As a comparison, the retail price for the Volkswagen Kfer (Beetle) was at 3.790. DM back then (1955).
The buyer's list of the 300 SL was filled with names of the rich and famous like Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Romy Schneider, Clark Gable, Curd Jrgens, Gunter Sachs, Tony Curtis etc. -
MarxBrosFan — 16 years ago(April 12, 2009 09:24 PM)
1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupe [W198 I]
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zurichpoet — 16 years ago(April 25, 2009 12:45 PM)
How nice of you to link this! Thank you. Magnificent wheels.
In all fairness, though, yes the Benz has its charm but really nothing beats my neighbor's golf cart. Pure fun. Why he got one, I have no idea. I look out one day and he's driving down his (short like 15 second walk) driveway to get the mail. Brand new golf cart. Convertible too. Style. It's the best to go down to the store, snacks, ice cream, or at night go out for drinks: you pull up in your golf cart. Cops don't even know if they can ticket it. They still don't know what to do with it. There's that golf cart, up on the curb again! Arriba! -
MarxBrosFan — 16 years ago(April 25, 2009 02:04 PM)
I like to promote imcdb whenever I can. It's still not known enough.
Richard Nixon also had a golf cart to drive around his beach house in California apparently But if it's on the public road they can ticket it surely. -
zurichpoet — 16 years ago(April 25, 2009 02:27 PM)
California has odd motor vehicle laws, like the way motorbikes can (I don't know the term) but when traffic is stalled it's legal for them to drive on the "dotted" lines of the highway, splitting cars. What's your dream car? In a movie or not? Is this it?
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MarxBrosFan — 16 years ago(April 26, 2009 03:53 PM)
I'm driving my dream car
Saab 900 but in movies maybe Steve McQueen's Ford Mustang
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle.php?id=70445
in Bullitt. Always liked the look of the DS
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle.php?id=4274
Not Mercedes, that was this guy's dream car:
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle.php?id=188990
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zurichpoet — 16 years ago(April 26, 2009 04:34 PM)
Nice! It's a toss up for me. A bread truck. Roomy, you can put a couch in the back, go and take a nap, recline relax, and read a book while stuck in traffic. And can carry around lots of things.Or a Ferrari California Spyder
http://theavidcollector.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/1961-ferrari-spyder.jpg
They are putting out a "new" one, I think this year. It was at the LA Auto Show last fall. Not a V 12 only a V 8. But still nice. -
MarxBrosFan — 16 years ago(April 27, 2009 07:04 PM)
I'd go for the spyder personally, over the bread truck. Looks very nice in black, much prefer it over the typical Ferrari colours red or yellow.
What I'm waiting for is the Saab 9-1:
http://reviews.carreview.com/files/2008/03/saab-9-1-hybrid-concept-med .jpg
Scheduled for 2010 but hardly certain has been postponed a few times. Should be a priority for them to build a compact premium car, but no, they have announced the even bigger 9-4 SUV in stead (of course survival will be the real priority) -
zurichpoet — 16 years ago(April 27, 2009 11:27 PM)
Well, I understand, as they say one man's bread truck is another man's stale loaf. That saab is sleeek! Nice! My friend that works for Mercedes told me they have a fuel cell auto they should be rolling out soon, too.
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roamic-1 — 15 years ago(January 06, 2011 10:13 AM)
"Yea, not sure exactly which year the model in the film is, but its a 1954-1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing. It was a Le Mans racer, unfortunately involved in the worst motorsport crash in history as a result, and today it is arguably one of the prettiest cars ever made. It has always been my favorite car. "
The pre-production, race version of that car won LeMans in 1952.
the car involved in the 55 crash was a 300SLR. Similar only in name. The 300SL had a 6 cylinder engine derived from a production sedan.
the 300SLR had a straight 6 race engine. -
browntmsu — 15 years ago(March 29, 2011 07:50 PM)
You're partially right. The 300SL coupe in this film has about as much in common with the LeMans 300SLR as a Camry in a Toyota showroom has with Toyota's NASCAR Camry racer. The 300 SLR used a straight EIGHT engine based on the engine in the Mercedes-Benz W196 Formula One car which won the world championship in 1954 and 1955. In Daimler-Benz speak, this car was officially the "W196S;" the D-B marketing department, however, chose to link it to Mercedes commercial production by calling it the "300SLR." Seven competition chassis were completed as open roadsters; two more were built as gull-wing coupes for the cancelled 1955 Carrera Panamericana and never raced. With a suitcase-sized muffler attached to the right-side exhaust pipes, one of these was used by D-B competition engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut as his "daily driver" and can be seen today in the Mercedes museum.
http://www.supertightstuff.com/06/14/motoring/potd-mercedes-300slr-backfire/
Film note: Scheduled to take over the wheel of that 300SLR that crashed into the 1955 LeMans crowd was its American co-driver, John Fitch. Fitch had been the technical advisor for Henry Hathaway's "The Racers" with Kirk Douglas, Bella Darvi and Lee J. Cobb which opened 18 days before the LeMans tragedy.
