Mercedes C124 Boschert B300 Gullwing: Only One Ever Made
Wild, one-off Mercedes C124-based Boschert B300 Gullwing was its owner’s dream, a literal poster car that he tracked down.
There are plenty of what one might call “rare” vehicles out there in the world, cars that were produced in small batches that could total somewhere in the thousands, hundreds, or even single digits. But vehicles don’t get any rarer than true one-of-ones, and that’s precisely what this crazy-looking machine is – the only Mercedes-Benz C124-based Boschert B300 Gullwing ever made, a car that its owner, Tino Zovko, fell in love with as a child. However, when he grew up, he managed to fulfill the lifelong dream that many of us have had, as he recently explained to Petrolicious.
This love affair started when Zovko was just nine years old back in 1989, which is when he spotted the Boschert B300 Gullwing on the cover of Auto Motor und Sport magazine. After getting good enough grades to prompt his dad to purchase the magazine for him, Zovko discovered that German engineer Hartmut Boschert planned on building 200 of these special cars, all of them equipped with the iconic gullwing doors, twin turbos, and a self-adjusting suspension.
Obviously, Zovko wasn’t in a position to purchase one of these pricey machines at the time, but he never forgot about the Boschert B300 Gullwing. After doing some research, he discovered that just 10 coupes had been built – but none with gullwing doors. Then, in 2005, he found his unicorn in his native Germany on eBay, and after talking to the seller, discovered that it was the only one ever built in this particular configuration. Even though he didn’t have the money to buy the car, Zovko managed to convince the seller to give him three months to raise the funds. Obviously, he did just that, selling everything he could, borrowing money from his brother-in-law, and taking a loan out to cover the cost.
Now, he owns a literal dream car – a true mashup that consists of a 1988 C124 300CE with an R129 SL front end, a reshaped hood and doors, and a shortened front clip. Power comes from a twin-turbocharged M103 3.0L inline-six that makes a decent 283 horsepower. The problem, as is often the case with ambitious machines like this, was cost – building such a heavily customized machine takes lots of money, which is precisely why just 10 coupes were built sans gullwing doors, leaving this prototype/show car as a true one-of-one.
Zovko has since gotten his unicorn of a find running, and enjoys driving it and showing it off to the bewildered masses. He even got to meet the car’s creator some time ago, putting a literal bow on his childhood dream – and honestly, how many of us really get to do that in our lifetimes?
Photos: Robb Pritchard for Petrolicious
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