This 1973 Mercedes-Benz 450SL was originally purchased in Washington and has remained in the Pacific Northwest with the same family from new. This example shows 118,345 miles and is powered by an unmodified 4.5 liter V8 mated to an automatic transmission. This car is said to retain the majority of its factory Light Ivory paint along with a nicely preserved red MB Tex interior. The car wears slim factory bumpers and Light Ivory paint.
The factory hardtop is claimed to have OEM glass and a taut headliner. The factory brown soft top is in nice shape throughout with original Wopavin markings on the windows. The functional Hirshmann antenna is still fitted, and the factory Kinonglas-Kristall windshield is still there. The soft top storage well and bottom section of the hardtop are like new. Both tops fit snug with good seals and clean weatherstripping.
The trunk retains its factory rubber mats, tool kit, and jacking equipment. The original Dunlop spare is said to be unused and the spare tire well is stated to be rust free.
The early 3-point seat belts with slotted holders for the shoulder strap remain in place. The factory Becker radio is operational, as is the instrumentation, power windows, exterior lighting, signals, horn, windshield wipers, and heater.
Under the hood, the 4.5 liter V8 is believed original and is mated to an automatic transmission. The engine bay presents nicely. All factory ID tags and stampings remain present on the core support. The often-missing factory distributor cap water shield cover is also present.
These 350’s & 450’s were the first version of the new style Mercedes sports car. and came with some great options: V8 motor, Small bumpers, etc. Mike thinks they are the ones to own. He has had his eye out for this model: 1972 or 1973. It is hard to find an original example in good shape. Most are run down with cracked dashes, lots of bodywork, bad repaints, etc.
They make great cruisers. Mike liked the color combo and the back area for luggage or a seat for Barney.
-On loan from The Mike Malamut personal collection
| 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gull Wing Coupe
A frame-off restoration done in 2000, it won Best Mercedes at the Greenwich Concourse the following year. Subsequently, it’s won top awards at various local concourses. Ever since Mr. Malamut’s boyhood years, he had always admired the beauty and lines of the 300 Gull Wing Mercedes. He’s been quoted as saying, “If I could own any car, this would be the car.” After starting to collect cars on a small scale at the age of 16, his budget allowed for cars from the newspaper or ones that needed mechanical work, most of which he repaired, later to sell, to pay bills. Later, at the age of 21, he entered the car business, and founded Autoland, a business predicated on helping credit union members purchase their new vehicles. As a sideline, Mr. Malamut opened a small classic car lot, buying and selling various models. As the business flourished, he began to assemble a small collection of classics that would form the beginnings of what the collection is today. Never forgetting his goal, Mr. Malamut continued to admire them. After selling his company in 2002, he found himself in the position to make the dream come true. At the Christie’s auction in 2004, he spotted this stunning Gull Wing. Seeing his dream car, he decided then and there that, regardless of price, he’d become an owner. He kept his hand up in there until the gavel dropped and the auctioneer announced, “Congratulations. You’re the new owner of this beautiful Gull Wing.” Mr. Malamut believes in driving his cars and not just garaging them. After being invited by Mercedes Benz to be a participant in the 2006 Colorado Grand Rally, he drove the car in 80 degree weather, in the mountains, and through snow blizzards. At times, speeds were in excess of 140 MPH. The Gull Wing, true to its design, performed flawlessly, traveling over 2,000 perfect miles. |
-On loan from The Mike Malamut personal collection
This 1960 Mercedes 190B falls under the category, which many including Mercedes called the “Pontons.” Ponton, the German word for pontoon marked the style of Mercedes production cars during the nine-year period of vehicles churned out from 1953 to 1962. There are two general theories as to why this name surfaced as the indicator of these cars. The first is the body shape, as that the car’s front and rear fenders during this time resembled a pair of pontoons. Another theory is that the U-shaped bridge that connected its sub frame also resembled the bridge of a pontoon boat. Whatever the reasoning, the Ponton is revered by both Mercedes-Benz fans and car collectors. The 190B describes this particular model’s features. The ‘190’ is for the 1.9-liter straight-4 cylinder M121 engine, and the ‘b’ signifies the modifications that Mercedes put in place for their 190 model to accommodate the redesigned sub frame for their suspension unit in 1959 that lasted till 1962. Mercedes also produced a diesel variant of the 190 and 190B during this period.
-On loan from The Mike Malamut personal collection
-On loan from The Mike Malamut personal collection
With a four-speed, fully synchro transmission, this vehicle has a six-cylinder overhead cam engine and original brown leather interior.
While working his way through college, Mr. Malamut became quite fascinated with German automobiles. Working at a VW/Porsche dealership, he enjoyed using his spare time collecting and repairing many lines of German cars. Quickly, an appreciation for the quality of Mercedes cars was formed.
In the next decade, he attended an auto show at Fashion Island in Newport Beach where he saw a beautiful 220 Cabrolet A where he saw a car similar to this one that was meticulously restored and shown by its owner, Jim Weins. After talking with Jim, he told him how much he loved the car. Naturally, it wasn’t for sale.
Mr. Malamut then searched for several years and found that purchasing a nicely restored Cabrolet A was beyond the budget. Upon scanning various periodicals, he found an ad where a seller was selling two identical 1953 Cab A vehicles that were mainly parts. One had the beginnings of a restoration where the frame was stripped and painted. The other was just piles of parts.
He purchased the two parts vehicles for $6,000. At the time, Autoland was ten-years-old. He also owned a Volkswagen dealership. After taking two repair bays and parking the parts cars there, he hired a couple of restorers from the east coast to help with the restoration. They spend a year sorting out the best of the parts from the two cars with the mission of making one good car out of the two. The process began with a total ground up restoration.
The parts were sorted (in particular, the chrome), and picked the best pieces for rechroming. Having never painted a complete car, Mr. Malamut decided he would like to tackle this feat with this one. The car, in pieces, but after the assistants prepped the various parts, he sprayed them one-on-one in a makeshift spray booth that built with 2 X 4s as framing and plastic sheathing as walls. He would wet down the floors and spray three to four coats of beige Mercedes lacquer. Then, they would color sand and buff each panel. It was a daunting task, but car started to come to life once their was paint on the various surfaces.
As the Mercedes inter support of this vintage are made out of wood, they then were perplexed by how to handle this task and none of the crew had experience with major woodworking. Mr. Malamut had raw oak stock from the previous owner, using it to create replacement pieces with the raw stock. It was quite difficult as the restoration fell to a standstill.
Then one day, one of the car detailers of Mexican descent, sensing his frustration, approached Mr. Malamut and said, “Let me help you. I can make the wood for you.” He replied, “You have cars to wash,” and sent him on his way. They continued to move forward with continued frustration.
Soon, it dawned on him, he seemed sincere; maybe he knows how to work with wood. Calling him over, he asked him to say more about his woodworking abilities. He said that when he lived in Mexico, he worked in a furniture shop, and his job was to build furniture.
Mr. Malamut apologized, and asked if he was still willing to lend a hand. In short, the man was an expert. It took him little time to shape the panels like a real artist. For this car, one has to make the inner panel first, and then tack the metal panel to the wood support before putting it in place to check the spacing of the door’s opening. Then, the outer metal panel is removed while working with the inner panel, carving it while making slight adjustments, then checking the outer panel to check the fit.
This three-month process was needed to fit the doors, top, etc. When the young man finished, the car began to take shape. All the mechanical refurbishing was done along with attachment of the doors and numerous chrome pieces. While fitting the chrome pieces, new problems arose. Some of the pieces fit well, others were too short or too long.
Scratching their heads, they couldn’t find the problem, Mr. Malamut called Jim Weims. He explained these cars were hand-built and each piece should fit the vehicle. Each piece had a number on the back. These numbers are the last two digits of the ID number of the vehicle. His suggestion was to take all the pieces from both cars and separate them by ID numbers. Then fit the pieces to the vehicle being restored with the matching ID number, and the problem would be solved.
Magically, after sorting the pieces, they all fit perfectly. They then completed the interior and top work, and the car was complete. The Mercedes was finished in 1981 and still sports its original paint job. It runs beautifully and has required only oil changes and very little maintenance through the years. Mr. Malamut reports that today, he would feel quite comfortable cruising down the freeway at 70 miles per hour.
This vehicle holds a special place in the collection as it’s one of a few that Mr. Malamut has personally brought back to life.
-On loan from The Mike Malamut personal collection