Rad Boschert B300-24C Oozes ’80s in Excess
More ’80s than gated reverb drums, the Boschert B300-24C aimed to be (another) attempt at a 300SL Gullwing successor.
We’ve covered specialized ’80s custom Mercedes before. Koenig, SGS, early AMG, and more come to mind. But from what we can tell, we haven’t introduced you to the Boschert B300-24C. It’s a rare bird, with only 11 examples made, according to Dyler.
Hartmut Boschert is the brains behind this operation, and saw an opportunity that Mercedes hadn’t capitalized on. Benz had just wowed the world with the R129 convertible at the Geneva Motor Show early on in 1989. But was it a true “SL” without gull-wing doors? Boschert didn’t think so.
Starting life as a C124 coupe, Boschert worked with Zagato to craft some new body lines, and slap the nose of an R129 SL on the front of the C124 coupe. But it actually used the A-pillar and windscreen from the SL as well. Being pillarless, the C124 could take the gullwing doors with ease, and the lines from the b-pillar back don’t change all that much. But it sure is a lot more dramatic once you open up the door. We have to commend the work, because it does look like the SL’s schnoz belongs on the coupe.
Though Mercedes had the new SL, Boschert garnered some additional attention away from the three pointed star by adding two turbos to the venerable M104 inline 6. Power increased to 320 horsepower, which incidentally, was exactly what the 500 SL made from the M119 V8. Here’s the kicker, the total cost of the car after the conversion was 180,000 euro, or about $315,000.00 in today’s money. Ouch. But that said, there were people who were silly enough to depart with that kind of money. Eleven people. We’re pretty sure no one bought one of these twice.
The 80’s were rife with companies like Boschert. They promised big things in the boutique car market, with lots of funny money floating around. In the end many promises were made, and most of them were broken. The very definition of flash-in-the-pan. In fact, it sounds a lot like some of the boutique electric cars being thrown around today.
Photos: Dyler
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