The hardest part of owning rare or vintage cars is finding replacement parts, no question. A car only has to be 10 years old before a company isn't required to make any more parts for it. Though if you're the lucky owner of a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing, it's about to become leagues easier for you to find those previously impossible spare parts you might need.

Only 1,400 300 SL Gullwings were built between 1954 and 1957. The SL, which stands for Sportlich Leicht (Sport Lightweight), was based on the W196 race car, and it had a strong, lightweight space frame design. Due to both its rarity and age, finding new parts was almost unheard of. Thankfully, Mercedes-Benz Classic has started offering key reproduction body parts for the 300 SL in factory quality.

The items range in price from $3,563 to replace the rear end center section, to as much as $17,816.50 to replace the rear panels. At least that includes paint and labor. It's still a pretty penny, all the same.
 

"The result of this symbiosis between state-of-the-art production technology and traditional craftsmanship is a high accuracy of fit that minimizes the need for subsequent work on the vehicle," states Mercedes-Benz Classic's press release.


According to Stuttgart brass, the new parts can be ordered right now by their part number from any Mercedes-Benz sales partner in Europe. No word yet as to is the service will be offered in the States as well, so American enthusiasts will have to import the product.

If you need an internal rework as well. You can find the original fabric in three different color options.