German Automotive Perfection Hiding in Plain Sight

You park your car in a drab industrial quarter of Irvine, California and are beckoned by the familiar silver star flowing freely upon a flag post next to a Brutalist concrete structure. The exterior of this facility gives little hint to the wonders that exist inside. As you enter the doorway you feel as if you have been transported to the Mercedes Benz ancestral homeland in Stuttgart, Germany. To your left is a replica of the revolutionary Benz Patent Motorwagen, widely credited as being the first automobile ever made. You blink in order to test the reality of this German motored dream and your gaze travels to the aggressive stance of a real C63 DTM car driven by Maximilian Gotz in the 2015 season, generously endowed with aero panels looking like it just returned from a spirited jaunt on the Nordschleife. Next to it, sits a legendary cousin: a gleaming Cosworth powered 190e Evo II. This place may seem like Mercedes Benz heaven, but it is thankfully the very real and wondrous Mercedes Benz Classic Center in Irvine.

The Mercedes Benz Classic Center located in unassuming Irvine, California is one of only two in the world, the other of course being in Stuttgart. The purpose of this facility is to provide a source of authentic parts for rare Mercedes and serve as a trusted workshop when one simply cannot take their 300SL Gullwing to the local auto mall for service. I myself regrettably do not own a classic Mercedes, but part of what makes this place so special is that anyone can visit the showroom and get up close and personal with Pagoda 280SLs and a nearly flagrant amount of mint 300SL Gullwings with which you can experience and admire in a very informal way, free from blockades separating you three feet from the vehicle. One of the most wondrous experiences is when you find your way to a large window behind which is a venerable treasure trove of rare Mercedes undergoing service and restoration. These beautiful machines are stacked ornately with their colorful bodies glinting in the well-lit immaculate work space. Here you will see a gathering of eclectic Benzs ranging anywhere from a W123 Turbo Diesel Wagon, to Radwood ready monoblocked AMGs, and an opulent 72’ 600 limo, or perhaps a brutish CLK63 AMG Black Series. Suffice to say there is something for every fan of the German marque’s magnificent vehicles.

Despite the plethora of Benz wonderments, the car that truly won my heart was a masterfully executed 300 SEL outfitted and tastefully modified to the specifications of the legendary "Red Pig." This car colloquially referred to as the "Silver Pig" was heavily present during the previous 2019 Monterey Car Week in which it sped about town with the likes of Magnus Walker behind the wheel. It’s inspiration, the Red Pig, was the car that birthed the grassroots tuning outfit started by two speed hungry former Mercedes engineers known as AMG. The standard 300 SEL engine was bored to a whopping 6.8 liters and all extraneous adornments were removed for lightness and in their place a roll cage was installed. The tribute that I saw received the same treatment, endowed with the power of 430 horses and the pull of 450 ft lbs. The Silver Pig sits atop glinting gold BBS wheels and looks utterly fantastic with its racy stance, tight roll cage, and front and rear bumper deletes. And therein lies the true beauty of the Mercedes Benz Classic Center. In that, you truly don't know what treasures you will find in this automotive palace except you can remain confident in the fact that you are unlikely to stumble upon them in such an environment anywhere else.