Oh Lord, won’t you buy me this electric Mercedes-Benz?
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(Image credit: Everrati)
(Image credit: Everrati)
What happens if you want a convertible electric sports car, but don’t quite fancy theMG Cyberster, or a lengthy wait for thePolestar 6? The answer – for now, and if your pockets are sufficiently deep – is the beautiful Mercedes you see before you.
It began life in 1968 as an SL W113, a model better known as the Pagoda. The Pagoda is a two-seat convertible that was produced between 1963 and 1971, and whose owners included the likes of John Lennon, Tina Turner and Audrey Hepburn, plus Harry Styles and F1 driver David Coulthard in more recent years.
(Image credit: Everrati)
(Image credit: Everrati)
There are two versions of electric Pagoda to choose from. The first has the aforementioned battery and motor combo, which produces a range of about 160 miles and a 0-60 mph time of under 8.0 seconds. A longer-legged variant increases battery capacity from 54 kWh to 68 kWh and ups the range to an estimated 200 miles, while lowering the 60 mph sprint time to under 7.0 seconds.
Today I’m driving the less potent model, which is still slightly quicker than the original to sixty and has almost twice the power, plus 300 Nm of torque compared to the original’s 240.
(Image credit: Everrati)
(Image credit: Everrati)
It’s a seriously beautiful thing. The design has been left almost entirely original, aside from seeming to sit slightly lower and therefore looking more compact. Naturally, there’s no exhaust protruding from the rear.
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Classic car owners will be familiar with the firm pull needed to slam the door shut – no modern soft-close systems here – and there’s even the same key to slot into the dashboard and turn. Then, things change. The dashboard looks original, but in the centre of the instrument binnacle are four digital displays that show battery level, gear, battery temperature and speed. Shift the gear stick into drive, release the mechanical handbrake (a bit of a stretch, as it’s in the passenger footwell, as per the original Pagoda) and press the accelerator.
(Image credit: Everrati)
(Image credit: Everrati)
There’s a bit of mechanical whine from the motor, to at least let you know you’re controlling a machine and not gliding along inertly in a golf cart. The ride is soft and the steering is a little vague, in a way that’s almost universal across cars of this era.
Some drivers might miss the skill of changing gear, although the Pagoda was offered with an automatic transmission in period, and of course the sound of a six-cylinder engine. If that’s you then, naturally, this isn’t the car for you.
As much as I like to hear the engines of classic cars, I admit Everrati’s Pagoda has serious appeal. For this drive I’m restricted to the quiet lanes of a private estate draped across the English countryside. It’s a beautiful spring day and, while the estate is positively massive, I’m sharing it with a professional cricket match and what sounded like opera practice. English private estates are just what you’d imagine, and I’m glad I’m not disturbing the tranquillity with an engine.
(Image credit: Everrati)
(Image credit: Everrati)
(Image credit: Everrati)
(Image credit: Everrati)
Inside, the beautifully soft leather comes from Bridge of Weir, a Scottish company which claims to produce the global automotive industry’s lowest-carbon leather. It has previously supplied leather for Concorde and the Houses of Parliament, and today’s customers include Range Rover and Aston Martin. Everrari chose a Ferrari blue for the car driven here, but paint colour and interior trim are the buyer’s choice, since the car is stripped down and restored before the switch to electrification takes place.
I can see myself spending many happy hours at the wheel of Everrati’s electrified Mercedes Pagoda. It isn’t a car intended to be driven hard, so the joys of working an engine through the gears were never really there in the first place. It’s a car to cruise, smoothly and quietly, through cities or along country lanes.
(Image credit: Everrati)
(Image credit: Everrati)
Make no mistake about it, the Everrati car is a serious chunk of cash. But its customers clearly aren’t buying a Pagoda as their only car. They aren’t deciding between this and something else. They probably have aPorsche Taycanfor the daily commute and they’ve probably ordered anelectric Range RoverorMercedes G-Class EVfor family duties. They are wealthy individuals who are looking for a classically-stylish, zero-emission alternative to a contemporary supercar. That’s how you should look at Everrati’s Pagoda. Not as a very expensive Mercedes without an engine, but as a guilt-free way of indulging in a passion for beautiful cars.
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