This Gazelle looks classy, too.
One car many enthusiasts with a taste for the classics really lust after is the Mercedes-Benz SSK. While its legend is larger than life, the reality is that being able to afford one of the few survivors is out of reach for most. Thankfully you can live the experience of driving that amazing German machine by grabbing this 1929 Mercedes-Benz Gazelle Replica. It’s being offered by Streetside Classics right now.
This car has it all, from the classic cloth top to the swooping fenders and simple yet elegant body lines. You enjoy the prestige of the hood ornament standing tall at the front, with those prominent horns and cool badging. A leather strap over the cowling adds to the vintage look, as do the exposed side pipes and the covered spare affixed to the rear and the chrome wire spoke wheels.
Upon closer inspection, you’ll find this replica is of high quality. The various fiberglass panels feature consistent gaps, with the doors opening and closing without any difficulty. The trunk lid fits like a glove, so you can throw whatever in there without fear of it getting soaked in a downpour. A nice finish to the white paint helps bring all this together.
Underneath all those throw-back looks are mechanicals donated by a Ford Pinto. That means if you need to do repairs, you won’t have to overnight parts from German and sell a kidney to finance the job. You also enjoy rear-wheel drive combined with a low curb weight, just like with the original SSK.
A brown leather interior features one-piece bucket seats up front, which fit the look of this car perfectly. Contributing further to the vintage vibe is a wood steering wheel and dash, plus Vintage Instruments white gauges. A rare modern convenience, there’s an AM/FM/cassette deck mounted in the dash on the passenger side.
Most people won’t really know what this car is, so they probably wouldn’t realize or car that it’s a replica. It just looks cool and will draw plenty of stares and curious questions. The original SSK was designed by Ferdinand Porsche himself and was fast as well as agile. Mercedes-Benz used the car for competitive hill climbs, building a mere 31. That means if you see an original in person, you’re quite lucky.
