For some historical research I am trying to trace the history of the former racing gullwing Mercedes once owned by famed Santa Barbara racing photographer Jesse Alexander. LIke to poke a hole in a few of the myths I have dug up or maybe add to them!
Can any body verify hearing any of the following?
-He was given, not sold, the car by Uhlhenhaut who had a steel production gullwing body thrown on a 1952 racing chassis?
-He pranged that car (how bad?) took it back and they put on an alloy body?
-His gullwing had the first roadster suspension (and how prone was the gullwing suspension to rear wheel tuck-under (a subject that whitens the face of gullwing owners...)
-Who did Jesse sell it to and what year? (There's a Road & Track classified ad on the net where he is offering it for $6500)
-Did any of the subsequent owners restore it as a production alloy gullwing before realizing it was a '52 race car underneath?
-How much would it cost to build a '52 gullwing body? I am guessing $250,000 USD or am I low on that? Did they scan a real one so they would get the proportions right?
I also heard when Jesse owned it he didn't realize it was a factory race car underneath and complained that the shift lever was the dogleg type (went under the dashboard) not like the production gullwings.
Anyhow love to hear about this Big One That Got Away. McCaw by the way, and his brother sewed up cellular before anybody realized it and they both became instant multi billionaires when the cellular phone business struck paydirt