Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Is Back With Modern Bones & An Iconic Name

A reborn coachbuilder called Saoutchik is ready to put its first car into production. The Saoutchik Torpedo S is based on the modern Mercedes-AMG GT Coupe, but with bodywork that is an homage to the classic 1950s Mercedes-Benz SL. After a successful debut at Monaco Top Marques earlier in May, it is now taking orders.
 

Saoutchik will build 15 copies of the Torpedo S. All with carbon fiber bodywork, and with more than 4,000 hours of labor put into their creation.
 
This Company Built Some Incredible Pre-War Machinery
The Saoutchik name isn’t exactly a household one. But in the rarified air of coach-built cars, it has created some stunning designs. Founded in France in 1906 by Jacques Saoutchik, the coachbuilder took on models including an Isotta Fraschini and Clement-Bayard in its early days. It was one of the first to build a four-door convertible, and one of the first to design low-slung instead of upright bodywork. Multiple examples of his company’s work have sold for more than $1 million at auction.
 
Though it closed in 1955, the name was revived in 2016. A new firm was established in the Netherlands.
 

The reborn company wants to be “a contemporary force reimagining the essence of grand touring luxury.” We may be living in the best time for ultra-custom bespoke cars since the end of the 1920s, so if it can recapture the spirit of the original, it should be able to find a place in that market.
 
Classic SL-Inspired Design Makes The Torpedo S Special
Its first is the Torpedo S. Torpedo, in coachbuilding, means a streamlined profile with a folding top, where the car’s main style line is level from the nose to the tail, through the doors. The only pillars on these four-door models were for the windows.
 
As a two-door, the Torpedo isn’t strictly one. But it is a stunner. The vintage 300SL-inspired nose sits almost on the ground. From there, the car’s fenders bulge upward slightly, and the tail curves down like an original SL, but the design is far more modern.
 
Fabrication of the Torpedo S is done with help from Pogea Racing. That company started as an Audi tuner, specializing in the RS2 and five-cylinder Audi engines. It has since expanded into developing carbon fiber bodywork for other vehicles, including an E-Class with the look of a CLS wagon. It now has a focus on restomods, including vintage Benz models.
 

The Torpedo S is based on the AMG GT, but you’d almost never tell from looking at it. Every panel is new and bespoke to this car, and each panel is crafted from carbon fiber, though the doors look very similar to OEM. The conversion will take eight months once the donor car arrives.
 
Each car will have an interior as bespoke as the outside. Saoutchik will have leatherworkers and woodworkers who will partner with the vehicle owner to create the car to their exact desires.
 
Saoutchik says the twin-turbo V8 will make 625 horsepower. It will do 0-62 mph in 3.2 seconds and just break through 200 mph flat-out. No two of the 15 cars will be the same. Based on Saoutchik’s timelines, expect the first customer cars to be ready early next year.