The oldest-surviving Merc SL has been completely restored to mark this year's 60th anniversary of the high-performance Stuttgart machines.
Mercedes scrapped the original car, but chassis 194 010 00002/52 - the second car built - was retained and has just had a ground-up 10-month resto.
The W194 was completely dismantled at the Mercedes-Benz Classic Centre in Fellbach, then every component meticulously examined and, where necessary, restored according to the very highest standards of authenticity and quality. The remit was to "retain the substance in every respect".
Mercedes said: "The restoration of the bodywork was a particularly tricky process, as it is made out of extremely fine aluminium/magnesium sheet metal which, by its very nature, is extremely delicate. Time had also taken its toll on it in many places. It took the specialists around six months to bring the body shell of the oldest SL in the world still in existence back to its former glory. The restoration of the vehicle lasted 10 months in all, which, in view of the extensive work involved, represented a very tight schedule."
Here's some background history on the model from Mercedes: