Seeing Stars
PHOTOS | HELEANA GENAUS
Every time I visit John the Mercedes Man (that's how he answers the phone) he has something from the M-B past in different states of restoration. Seeing this 190SL sitting on the lift waiting its full restoration... I kinda nearly fell over. As he tells me what other models are arriving for him to bring back to life for a collector, it made me consider leaving my life (and ethics) behind and trying on the trophy-wife-strategy on whoever this rich collector was (male/female... who cares?).
“It will be mine, oh yes, it will be.”
My friend (who is a walking encyclopaedia of gasoline trivia and fellow M-B tragic) tells me that the 190SL was developed as the more affordable version of the 300SL Gullwing after its success almost straight off the production line. Both were suggested to Mercedes-Benz by German auto dealer Max Hoffman in NewYork for the U.S. market... and once you know he also had his home and showroom designed by the late and great Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, clearly the man had taste and sense for good design.
While I am in love with my 1971 230e, the SL series are undeniably the most beautiful machines Mercedes-Benz ever produced. When the day comes and I'm handsomely remunerated for all the work I do (or become a trophy wife)... I hope to be proudly restoring and cruising around in a soft top... what?! a girl can dream!
Hx
Heleana is a force of nature. The founder of In Venus Veritas and The Petrolette, and a co-founder of Rising Sun Workshop. Heleana shares her love of vintage cars, riding motorcycles, and (not-so-secretly) dreams of flying planes and piloting a riva aquariva (a la Sophia Loren) very fast through the canals of Venice. Supportive and connected, community is her lifeblood, and she is as real as they come.
