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

Brabus restored a Mercedes 300 SL utilised as a template by artist Andy Warhol for his Mercedes Vehicles series. The car or truck was exhibited in the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart, along with the corresponding work of artwork, till June 26, and will shortly be on screen at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

Photograph: Mercedes/Brabus

Andy Warhol was an American artist, director and film producer who became known as a result of the artwork movement – a tendency or model in artwork with a particular common philosophy or goal, also regarded as pop artwork.

In the automotive field, Andy Warhol’s identify is mainly associated to BMW. The BMW Artwork Auto project was released by French racing driver Herve Poulain who wanted to invite an artist to paint a motor vehicle.
Therefore, in 1975 Poulain commissioned the artist and his close friend Alexander Calder to paint the very first BMW Art vehicle. It was a BMW 3. CSL with which Poulain was to compete in the 24-hour race at Le Mans in 1975.

A overall of 19 BMW Art Vehicles were being produced centered on both of those creation cars and race cars and trucks by artists these types of as David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella and Andy Warhol. In 1979, Warhol painted a BMW M1 Team 4 in rainbow abstract colors.

Number of know that Warhol was also contacted by Mercedes in 1986. Mercedes required to make a Vehicles sequence with styles from its assortment. Warhol was interested in the project and made the decision to use a Mercedes 300 SL as the initial template. Brabus learned and restored specifically this specimen and with each other with Warhol’s get the job done of artwork it was exhibited for a number of times in the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart.

Mercedes wanted to existing the Cars sequence on the event of the 100th anniversary of the creation of the vehicle. The sequence was to attribute 80 functions with 20 Mercedes products, but Warhol died unexpectedly on February 22, 1987 thanks to troubles immediately after a gallbladder surgical treatment. By then, he experienced managed to full 36 images with 8 models and 13 drawings – 30 of these visuals and the 13 drawings belong to the Mercedes-Benz Artwork Selection. The Mercedes 300 SL model restored by Brabus was the initially automobile that Warhol used as a template for the Vehicles series. The registration quantity of the automobile is EI-DR 1.

The car that served as Warhol’s template belonged in 1986 to a dentist in Kosching, a modest town 8 km north of Ingolstadt. This could be uncovered simply because Warhol also immortalized the car’s registration variety, which proved that the car belonged to the Eichstatt district. In 2020, the dentist died and his family members made the decision to offer the vehicle that achieved the vintage motor vehicle seller Axel Schuette, who also owned the Warhol works of art.

Brabus, who also discounts with the restoration of Mercedes vintage products, did not overlook the chance and bought this 300 SL. Brabus then asked the Mercedes Traditional division to verify the authenticity of the design. Mercedes has confirmed that it is an original design with chassis collection 198.040-5500629.

Brabus has invested 4,500 hrs in restoring the motor vehicle. The auto 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 auto utilised by Warhol and his drawings has by no means been exhibited collectively. Just after the exhibition at the Mercedes Museum, the car will also journey in an air-conditioned container to the United states wherever it will be exhibited at the Petersen Automotive Museum right up until January 23, 2023.