A group of Kansas college students made history when they entered a classic vehicle they restored all by themselves in what’s known as “the Super Bowl of car shows.”Sixty students from McPherson College, north of Wichita, spent six years restoring a classic Mercedes-Benz.They hunted down parts — and even created a custom paint blend to replicate the look.The vehicle was in the competition at the Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach, California. The car show is known around the world.In the video player above: Hear from one of the students who worked on the classic car restoration, and see what the car looks likeJudges focus on elegance, originality, and authenticity.“We like to say the older cars possess souls while the other cars do not,” McPherson College alumna Victoria Bruno said. “Simply because they represent kinetic art, they represent time that no longer is. They represent a time that wasn’t about getting from point a to point but about the experience.”The car is worth over half a million dollars. In a media release, Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance officials announced that “a prewar Mercedes-Benz roadster that was first owned by the Shah of Afghanistan—one of just three similar cars surviving in the world today—was awarded the top prize.”The release states that for the 2023 event, “216 cars from 18 countries and 30 states pulled onto the competition field of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and the car named Best of Show was a 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster presented by Jim Patterson of the Patterson Collection in Louisville, Kentucky.”A complete list of winners in the release shows that a 1953 Mercedes-Benz 300 S Cabriolet entered in the show by McPherson College took home 2nd place laurels in the “Class O-3: Postwar Luxury” class. McPherson College says it’s the only school in the country with a degree in automotive restoration. In a news release posted on its website on Sunday, McPherson College called the students’ 2nd place victory a “historic finish at Pebble Beach.” “This is the first time in the 72-year history of the world’s most prestigious car show that an entirely student-restored car has ranked at Pebble Beach,” McPherson College wrote in the post.
A group of Kansas college students made history when they entered a classic vehicle they restored all by themselves in what’s known as “the Super Bowl of car shows.”
Sixty students from McPherson College, north of Wichita, spent six years restoring a classic Mercedes-Benz.
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They hunted down parts — and even created a custom paint blend to replicate the look.
The vehicle was in the competition at the Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach, California. The car show is known around the world.
In the video player above: Hear from one of the students who worked on the classic car restoration, and see what the car looks like
Judges focus on elegance, originality, and authenticity.
“We like to say the older cars possess souls while the other cars do not,” McPherson College alumna Victoria Bruno said. “Simply because they represent kinetic art, they represent time that no longer is. They represent a time that wasn’t about getting from point a to point but about the experience.”
The car is worth over half a million dollars.
In a media release, Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance officials announced that “a prewar Mercedes-Benz roadster that was first owned by the Shah of Afghanistan—one of just three similar cars surviving in the world today—was awarded the top prize.”
The release states that for the 2023 event, “216 cars from 18 countries and 30 states pulled onto the competition field of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and the car named Best of Show was a 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster presented by Jim Patterson of the Patterson Collection in Louisville, Kentucky.”
A complete list of winners in the release shows that a 1953 Mercedes-Benz 300 S Cabriolet entered in the show by McPherson College took home 2nd place laurels in the “Class O-3: Postwar Luxury” class.
McPherson College says it’s the only school in the country with a degree in automotive restoration.
In a news release posted on its website on Sunday, McPherson College called the students’ 2nd place victory a “historic finish at Pebble Beach.”
“This is the first time in the 72-year history of the world’s most prestigious car show that an entirely student-restored car has ranked at Pebble Beach,” McPherson College wrote in the post.
