A classic, remixed: Driving an electric Mercedes SL Pagoda

Who spends almost half a million pounds on an electrified restomod? According to Everrati, it’s a very eclectic bunch. Many of its customers are in the US; around one-third of them are female; and some don’t yet have a driving licence but are instead the fortunate beneficiaries of petrolhead parents foreseeing a zero-emissions future and ordering an EV classic to ensure their offspring will have something truly special to drive.  Perhaps what’s even more striking is that some buyers are already on their second or third Everrati. Related articles The Oxfordshire-based electric car specialist has grown impressively since I last drove one of its cars, the Porsche 964-based ‘Signature’, almost three years ago.  The model range now encompasses various Land Rovers, a Ford GT40 tribute and this 1960s Mercedes-Benz SL, which, alongside a new ‘Engineering by Everrati’ consultancy division, ensures its workforce has swelled.  Founder and CEO Justin Lunny smiles as he lists the previous companies on his employees’ collective CV: McLaren, Bentley, Rimac and Singer are the most impressive. “People are coming to us, we don’t have to go looking for them,” he says. While the 911s and GT40s that came before the SL are capable of whipping websites’ comments sections and social media platforms into frenzies, perhaps this W113-generation SL ‘Pagoda’ is a safer bet: it’s a car that hasn’t traditionally traded on high revs and a sonorous soundtrack as part of the experience.  It also helps prove the concept of a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive car with the Everrati powertrain formula; Lunny hints at much more to come from the set-up that is shoehorned into the Pagoda’s compact transmission tunnel. Astons, Jags, Rolls-Royces… The possibilities are enormous. Bring Everrati a donor car – it can be a 230, 250 or 280SL – and its straight-six engine and gearbox are removed and replaced by an electric motor (made by Helix, whose tech powers the Lotus Evija) and a choice of two batteries: you can have 54kWh or 68kWh for a 160-or 200-mile range respectively.