In the summer of 1970 I was a 25-year-old single aerospace engineer and the owner of a beautiful yellow 1966 Corvette (of course). I was temporarily unemployed, and my dad came out from Ohio for a vacation. We drove my Corvette all around California.
The Mercedes sports car of that time was the 280SL, and every time we saw one we admired the clean lines of that design. But the 280SL’s engine was a 2.8-litre inline-six putting out only 180 hp, which didn’t seem adequate compared to the power in my Corvette. So I said, “Hey Dad, what if that pretty little car had an engine like I’ve got in this ‘Vette?”
I finally got the chance to make it happen starting in 1988, with the purchase of a thoroughly worn-out 280SL. It was originally going to be just an engine and transmission swap, but as the project moved slowly along it evolved into the current resto-mod. Along the way I’ve rebuilt that 350 small-block Chevy three times — and somehow it gained another 100 hp with every rebuild.