Mercedes-Benz SL Gullwing

The classic Mercedes-Benz SL Gullwing is one of the most sought-after cars of all time, with its rarity and car collector appeal raising auction prices into the stratosphere. German tuner and coachbuilder Gullwing-AG and its American subsidiary, Gullwing-America, have just announced plans to offer a rebodied and thoroughly modernized variant of the classic SL to customers beginning soon.

To kick off the campaign, Gullwing-America has released images and official specifications for its 2009 Gullwing 300SL Panamericana, and the car is an absolute stunner. The shape clearly follows the most hallowed Benz ever's body lines, also displaying modern touches to go along with the technology within.

The 300SL Panamericana concept car gets a genuine-article Mercedes-Benz engine and driveline, a retuned version of the 5.5 liter 8 cylinder that has seen duty in AMG and SLR McLaren models. For the 300SL Panamericana, the powerplant spits out 370 horsepower and 530 Nm torque @ 5400 rpm.

With a light steel frame and an aluminum-fiberglass body, all that power will not have a whole lot of car to push around, and performance numbers should exceed those of the AMG Benz cars sharing this engine.

For potential 300SL Panamericana buyers who are more interested in looking good than going 200 mph, Gullwing-America will also offer a Mercedes-sourced V6 as an engine choice. Production run will obviously be small, but with several companies building replica and modernized Shelby/AC Cobra cars with modern components, the 300SL Panamericana does have a roadmap for success.

The real test for the fledgling car builder will be to see if the Panamericana has that not-quite-together kit car feel or conversely the spit and polish of a brand new Mercedes-Benz. The real story will probably fall somewhere in between, but we wish this interesting experiment in the cult of car the greatest possible success.