The 1950s Mercedes-Benz 300 SL is, according to TLCB anyway, one of the most beautiful cars ever made. Part of its legendary appeal is down to the incredible ‘gull wing’ doors that debuted on the car.

Beautiful as those doors were though they did have a drawback. The 300 SL was based on the boring old bits from normal Mercedes saloon cars that really weren’t up to the job of handling the power from its inline-6 engine, an engine that was the first to feature direct injection and made over 200bhp (a lot for the 1950s).

As such SLs were quite… crash-able, and if you were trapped inside one upside-down all thoughts about how funky the doors were would vanish when you realised they couldn’t be opened.

Danger is cool though, and thus 300 SLs are now some of the most sought-after cars ever, commanding astronomical price-tags. Which means to get your hands on one you’ll have to build your own, which is exactly what Flickr’s Tobias Munzert has done. His wonderful recreation not only looks the part but also features the doors that made the car so famous. Now, do we put an Elf in it and turn it upside-down…