For many car enthusiasts, childhood bedroom walls are adorned with posters of automotive icons – perhaps a fiery Ferrari F40 or a sharp-edged Lamborghini Countach. These dream cars exist in the realm of pure passion, yet often remain just that: dreams. Few are fortunate enough to actually own the car that once graced their youthful walls. Tino Zovko, however, is one of those few. He doesn’t just own the same make and model as his poster car; he owns the very car itself. This achievement becomes even more remarkable when you realize it’s the Boschert B300 Gullwing, a truly unique vehicle – the only one ever created.
Tino’s captivating story begins at a magazine stand when he was nine years old. The September 1989 issue of Auto Motor und Sport displayed a car unlike anything he had ever seen. Young Tino was instantly captivated by this extraordinary machine. However, at 5 Deutschmarks, the magazine was significantly pricier than the usual 1.50 DM Auto Bild his father bought. To earn the coveted magazine, Tino had to achieve top marks on a math test. Inside, he devoured every detail about Hartmut Boschert’s ambitious plan to produce 200 of these stunning cars, complete with twin turbos and self-adjusting suspension. He eagerly anticipated the day he might finally witness one in person.
A decade passed, and the Boschert B300 remained etched in Tino’s memory, despite never encountering one in real life or hearing about it again. With the dawn of the internet, one of his first online searches was for this unusual car. Surprisingly, and somewhat disappointingly, he discovered that only ten coupes had been produced. However, none of these seemed to possess the distinctive gullwing doors that had so enthralled him on that magazine cover as a child.
Years later, in 2005, another internet search unveiled an advertisement for his dream car on the then-emerging platform eBay. Although the auction had already concluded, Tino noticed the reserve price hadn’t been met, leaving the B300 unsold. Crucially, it was one of the original Gullwing versions. Recognizing this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he drove across Germany to meet the seller. As a student with limited funds, he barely had enough money for the return fuel in his significantly less extravagant Mercedes W124 400E.
Upon meeting the seller, Tino learned the astonishing truth: only a single Gullwing version of the B300 had ever been manufactured. His childhood poster, however, had ingrained in him the image of a silver car with a black interior. This particular B300 was Bornit Metallic with a striking two-tone purple upholstery – a color scheme perhaps envisioned as futuristic back in its day. Yet, peering into the engine bay, Tino saw silver… it was indeed the poster car, albeit with a surprising exterior color.
The B300 was far from a standard C124, so the color difference didn’t deter Tino. He was determined to buy it. The only obstacle was his meager 20 euros, barely enough for the fuel to drive back home. The seller, the nephew of Mr. Bertrandt, who had financed the Boschert project years prior, recognized Tino’s genuine passion. The car wasn’t running, showed signs of storage-related wear, and one of its unique doors was jammed. Leveraging these points, Tino negotiated a deal, securing a three-month window to gather the necessary funds. To finance his dream, Tino meticulously dismantled and sold parts from accident-damaged Mercedes vehicles, liquidated his existing possessions, including his own 400E, borrowed money from his future brother-in-law, and secured a bank loan to bridge the remaining gap. Finally, fifteen years after acquiring that fateful Auto Motor und Sport issue, and on the very last day of the agreed contract, his father helped him purchase the real car. No math test was required this time. Deep in debt, he was now the proud owner of the car that had graced his bedroom wall for years. The emotional value was immeasurable.
To a Mercedes-Benz aficionado, the B300 presents a familiar yet subtly altered silhouette. It begins life as a 1988 C124 300CE but receives a significant transformation with the front end grafted from an R129 SL. The hood and wings are expertly reshaped to seamlessly blend the R129 front with the C124 body. The most dramatic changes involve a 25cm reduction in the rear overhang and another 25cm chop from the roofline. This intricate coachwork is executed with the precision and artistry one would expect from a renowned firm like Zagato.
The original Gullwing Mercedes models necessitated their iconic doors due to their tubular chassis construction. On the B300, however, the gullwing doors serve a purely aesthetic purpose. Despite this, the sills were reinforced to compensate for the structural rigidity lost by removing the B-pillar. The doors operate via an electronically controlled hydraulic pump, integrated into the same system that adjusts the suspension ride height.
Beneath the bespoke bodywork, the modifications continue to impress. The 3.0L inline-six M103 12-valve engine is augmented with twin Garrett turbochargers. In the late 1980s, turbo lag was still a significant challenge for performance cars. Boschert ingeniously addressed this by employing one turbo for high torque at lower RPMs and another for higher RPM power, creating a more linear and responsive power delivery. This sophisticated setup required a complex dual exhaust system to feed both turbines. The result was 283bhp, a substantial increase over the factory 180bhp output, even if not quite supercar territory for the era. The subsequent ten non-Gullwing B300 models utilized the more potent 24-valve engines as a base, achieving 320bhp and a top speed exceeding 165mph with turbocharging.
However, the price tag was as astonishing as the car’s subtle yet wild modifications. Engaging a coachbuilder of Zagato’s caliber drove the cost to just under $200,000 in today’s money, more than double the price of a top-of-the-line V12 S-Class at the time. To mitigate costs, the initial ten cars were planned with conventional doors. Despite showcasing the gullwing prototype at major international car shows in Frankfurt, Geneva, and Paris, interest remained insufficient. Ultimately, only those ten cars were produced, making this Gullwing prototype a true “one of one” masterpiece.
Once Tino brought his exceptionally rare B300 home, he sought assistance from a friend to open the stuck door and get the engine running. Penniless, he compensated his friend with a W124 500E engine and a W124 400E body shell, assets he fortunately still possessed. Upon starting his career as an engineer after graduation, Tino’s time to enjoy his dream car was limited. However, he did proudly present it at the Mercedes Exoten Forum meeting, where it unsurprisingly won first place for the most exotic Mercedes conversion. Over the years, the car has required routine maintenance, but remarkably, beyond basic service items, everything remains original to the day of purchase.
Wherever Tino takes the B300, it garners considerable attention, particularly during the spectacle of the doors in operation. Witnessing the passenger door gracefully open automatically often evokes the same awe as it did on rotating display stands three decades prior.
While the admiring glances are appreciated, for Tino, one of the most rewarding aspects of owning this unique car is the network of friendships it has fostered, sparked by conversations about his extraordinary vehicle. Among the most treasured of these connections is his relationship with Hartmut Boschert himself, the car’s designer and the company’s namesake. Driven by a desire to learn everything about his car, Tino visited Boschert and was immediately impressed by his character. A true designer and engineer at heart, Boschert’s home was filled with his creations, from metal kitchen curtains to custom furniture, alongside framed technical drawings of cars adorning the walls. Deeply touched by Tino’s profound appreciation for his creation, Boschert generously compiled all available drawings and plans of the Boschert B300, including homologation documents, and gifted them to his devoted fan.
Tino has now cherished his dream car for nearly two decades. Regardless of its current market value, it’s evident that selling this irreplaceable piece of automotive history is simply not an option for him.
