Unique SGS Gullwing Wins MBWorld ‘Best Mercedes’ At Radwood 2
The SGS Gullwing Mercedes 500 SEC that won our award at Radwood has an incredible story behind it.
MBWorld took a trip to the Radwood 2 car show earlier in December to seek out some cool Mercedes automobiles. While we found a lot of awesome rides, one in particular stood out for us. Colored white-on-white with a splash of red was an extremely rare Mercedes 500 SEC. Specifically, one that has been modified by Styling Garage Special (SGS) out of Germany. Presented by CMS Motorsports & Restorations, and curated by Shant Meshefedjian, we had to take some time to find out more about Shant, and his car.
MBWorld: Tell us how you became a fan of Mercedes and about your passion for cars.
Shant Meshefedjian: My dad has always been a Mercedes guy. In 1957 he had a 180 rag-top that he bought as his first car. Ever since that experience with that car he’s basically had some sort of Mercedes in his life, be it new or used. As a kid I always remembered there was a Mercedes in the driveway, so it kind of became part of the family.
I started my collection when I was 17. My first was a 300 E, which I still own, but back when I first had it, I converted it into a Hammer clone. Then I found myself just collecting more. Not just Mercedes either, because there are Ferraris and Porsches and in total, 42 cars.
MBW: We assume your knowledge and enthusiasm of Mercedes led you to be aware of the SGS Gullwing?
SM: I have loved the SGS Gullwing ever since I saw it, which was on a poster. The poster was at my dad’s friend’s shop, and it was a white Gullwing. Being maybe 14 years old when I saw it, I just was fascinated by it. That’s when I really started to study AMG and what the cars were all about.
MBW: When you set out to buy this one, was it a long search, or easy to come by?
SM:I chased this SGS Gullwing for almost 6 years. Dubai, I found out, was where it was originally sold, then it went up for sale in Miami in 1985 at a dealership named Auto Saloon 2000. Someone from New York bought that car, but some time in 1987 a collector in San Francisco bought it. The trail ran cold after that.
I had thought it may still be in San Francisco, one of very few in the US, which is why I had pursued this exact car. Thankfully, another clue came when a friend had noted that he may have seen it.
‘Shant, that same car that you told me about, I think I saw something similar to that in Palm Springs.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Do the doors open like a DeLorean?’
‘Yeah!’
‘It’s a white Mercedes, I could tell from the badge. And the driver’s door was open.’
So I asked which streets he saw it on, and decided to take the 90 minute drive to see if I could find it again. I drove straight out there and started going through different industrial areas where my friend thought he spotted it. By luck, I had asked someone working at another woodworking style shop if he’d ever seen the car in the area, and amazingly, he had. He said it might belong to the owner of a nearby body work shop. But no one was at that shop, so I picked up researching the car based out of Palm Springs instead of San Francisco.
It turns out the car had been on consignment at a dealership several years ago. Confidentiality meant they couldn’t tell me information about the owner, but they could tell me it was at the dealership for a short amount of time because the owner didn’t get the right offers on the car.
So, now I find myself driving down to Palm Springs every weekend, just roaming through the streets to spot this car. Finally, one time I was down there, the shop was open, and after talking to the owner, he confirmed he had it, and it was right there in the shop.
He didn’t want to sell it at first but after some negotiations, he finally agreed to sell.
The way it ended up in Palm Springs is the owner from San Francisco sent the car out to have the car changed a little. Some fabrication work and change the color. He had the car shipped to Palm Springs, and was supposed to send a deposit to start work on the car, but that’s when the shop could no longer reach the owner in San Francisco. After about a year of trying to get hold of the owner, a lean sale was placed on the car, and that’s when the shop owner just decided to keep it till I found it.
MBW: Was it in great condition when you found it, or did you have to do any restoration?
SM: What I did to the car was change out the wheels, because the original were not on there. I put the correct AMG wheels on the car and had to repair the front spoiler as it was pretty much destroyed. Otherwise, it was in great shape. According to brochures the car looks to be correct from when it left SGS. At some point it had TV’s added in the headrests, which will be removed, and it has an aftermarket stereo.
MBW: When SGS made these cars, did their work extend beyond just making the doors?
SM: SGS mainly just worked with appearance. Obviously, they did the gullwing doors, but also did convertible conversions. The only options you had were choice of wheels, and a wide body kit too. With SGS, they manufactured the doors, then companies like AMG, Brabus, Lorinser, and Zender were the companies that contracted SGS.
Lets say AMG or Brabus would contact SGS and wanted four gullwings, and two of them to be wide body. SGS would then go to Mercedes and essentially pick up the shell. SGS would do their part to the car, send it back to Mercedes to assemble the mechanical parts and finally the car would go to AMG, Brabus or Lorinser or who ever ordered the gullwing from SGS. My gullwing in particular is an AMG version, so it has AMG’s body kit and wheels, Recaro classic seats.
MBW: Does it drive different from a standard 500 SEC?
SM: The car is actually braced very well for having cut away parts of the roof for the doors. The craftsmanship of the conversion is really amazing for the technology they had in the 80’s. My other SGS gullwing that I just bought has hydraulic doors, but the ’83 was completely manual.
Additionally, only 57 had been made, I am aware of four in the United States. Two of them I own, one is out of Texas that I am also trying to add to my collection, and the other I am not so sure about.
MBW: Do you mind telling us a bit about the one you just bought?
SM: The way I came across this car was amazing. A local guy here deals with older Mercedes parts, so I often go through him with some of the other cars I’m restoring. He stops by my shop one day and sees my Gullwing and says, ‘I have one of those.’ I wanted to make sure he knew what it was, and he did in fact have an SGS Gullwing. Immediately I asked, ‘Do you want to sell it?’ He was hesitant at first, but then decided to agree to a sale. So he invited me down to his shop and it is tucked away in a garage.
Here I was searching world-wide for the ’83 Gullwing, and this other one was only 4 miles away from me!
That one is going to have to be restored though, because it needs a lot of work. It was completely stripped down and the restoration just never happened. But all the parts are there.
MBW: What was the reaction to the car at Radwood 2?
SM: I saw that a lot of people knew about the SGS Gullwing, but there were a lot that didn’t, too. But anyone who saw it was in awe. But the car isn’t in perfect condition either. It’s an otherwise un-restored car.
But to me Radwood was amazing. I host a lot of events, and have been to shows like Pebble Beach and Quail, but Radwood was probably one of the best shows I have been to. It’s not only because of the cars, but the people were just amazing. Real car guys, real enthusiasts. There were so many different cars, and so many cars that people don’t remember. I had a phenomenal time.
MBW: Shant, again we’d like to thank you for taking some time to share your knowledge about this car with us!
SM: Any time, we’ll see you at the next show.
