Owning the Mercedes SLS

Alberto Cefis has owned several Mercedes-benz 300 SLS. ‘Despite its provenance this car is not very different to the others – mechanically it is both reliable and easy to work on. When I bought the car, I commissioned a mechanical overhaul that would enable the car to achieve 100 points at a concours, as well as making it as reliable as possible. That cost me €80,000 (£67,525), and in the following five years I covered about 10,000 kilometers (6200 miles), with just one routine service. There has only ever been one mechanical issue, and that was after a 10-hour, non-stop drive to Le Mans in very hot weather. The heat had partially melted the spark plug covers, and because of that the platinum points had burnt. Two hours’ work from a good mechanic fixed the problem. That was the longest journey I’ve made so far with the car, a stint of four days and 2600km, including lapping the Le Mans circuit and driving through the centre of Paris. Mercedes still produces all the replacement mechanical parts we need and, yes, they are expensive – but they’re in the same league as spares for a modern SL. However, if something were to happen to the body or, worse still, the interior, that could be troublesome, because everything on the prototype is different from production cars and would need to be made from scratch. When I broke the right-hand interior door handle, I fixed it with a 190 SL component. Fortunately, it is similar and it works perfectly. My wife and I love to drive this car – the sound and the power are unbeatable. I love it too much to notice any blemishes, although I’ll admit that, as noted in an internal memo from 1955, you can smell fuel when the tank is full!’