Mercedes 300 SL Used as Template by Andy Warhol Was Restored by Brabus

Brabus restored a Mercedes 300 SL employed as a template by artist Andy Warhol for his Mercedes Autos series. The motor vehicle was exhibited in the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart, alongside with the corresponding function of art, until June 26, and will shortly be on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

Picture: Mercedes/Brabus

Andy Warhol was an American artist, director and film producer who became recognised by means of the artwork movement – a inclination or type in art with a certain widespread philosophy or aim, also recognized as pop art.

In the automotive marketplace, Andy Warhol’s identify is largely associated to BMW. The BMW Art Motor vehicle challenge was released by French racing driver Herve Poulain who wished to invite an artist to paint a motor vehicle.
Consequently, in 1975 Poulain commissioned the artist and his good friend Alexander Calder to paint the initial BMW Artwork automobile. It was a BMW 3. CSL with which Poulain was to contend in the 24-hour race at Le Mans in 1975.

A whole of 19 BMW Artwork Vehicles have been established based on equally production cars and trucks and race automobiles by artists these kinds of as David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella and Andy Warhol. In 1979, Warhol painted a BMW M1 Group 4 in rainbow summary shades.

Couple know that Warhol was also contacted by Mercedes in 1986. Mercedes needed to make a Cars and trucks series with designs from its range. Warhol was intrigued in the venture and determined to use a Mercedes 300 SL as the very first template. Brabus uncovered and restored exactly this specimen and together with Warhol’s do the job of artwork it was exhibited for a number of times in the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart.

Mercedes preferred to existing the Cars and trucks collection on the event of the 100th anniversary of the creation of the automobile. The sequence was to aspect 80 is effective with 20 Mercedes models, but Warhol died unexpectedly on February 22, 1987 due to issues right after a gallbladder surgical treatment. By then, he had managed to full 36 photographs with 8 types and 13 drawings – 30 of these illustrations or photos and the 13 drawings belong to the Mercedes-Benz Art Assortment. The Mercedes 300 SL product restored by Brabus was the to start with automobile that Warhol utilised as a template for the Cars series. The registration quantity of the car or truck is EI-DR 1.

The auto that served as Warhol’s template belonged in 1986 to a dentist in Kosching, a compact town 8 km north of Ingolstadt. This could be realized mainly because Warhol also immortalized the car’s registration quantity, which proved that the automobile belonged to the Eichstatt district. In 2020, the dentist died and his relatives decided to sell the auto that achieved the typical car or truck supplier Axel Schuette, who also owned the Warhol works of art.

Brabus, who also discounts with the restoration of Mercedes common types, did not miss out on the option and acquired this 300 SL. Brabus then requested the Mercedes Vintage division to verify the authenticity of the product. Mercedes has confirmed that it is an authentic model with chassis series 198.040-5500629.

Brabus has invested 4,500 several hours in restoring the car. The motor vehicle was introduced in an air-conditioned container and exhibited at the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart until June 26 along with Warhol’s drawings. This template motor vehicle utilised by Warhol and his drawings has under no circumstances been exhibited jointly. Just after the exhibition at the Mercedes Museum, the auto will also travel in an air-conditioned container to the Usa the place it will be exhibited at the Petersen Automotive Museum until January 23, 2023.