Detroit is perhaps best known for its legacy as the U.S.'s premier car manufacturing hub. The first auto companies set up shop in Detroit around the turn of the 20th century, and by 1917, the city's plants produced over one million cars per year. Beyond manufacturing, though, Motor City significantly impacted American pop culture.
The original 300 SL Uhlenhaut Coupe, the racing variant that never made it to public roads, remains one of the most valuable cars ever auctioned, fetching $143 million at a 2022 Sotheby's sale. So when concept designer Gabriel Naretto decided to name his reimagined Mercedes-AMG shooting brake after the man himself, the pressure to deliver something worthy of that legacy was immense.
A giant screen still towers over the site of the former Boulevard Drive-In Theater, a sprawling complex ringed by low-rise buildings in an industrial section of Allentown, Pa. For several decades in the middle of last century, it and other drive-ins showcased the might of America's auto industry. The theaters along with drive-through banks, pharmacies, groceries, liquor stores and dry cleaners were both symbols of how cars were shaping popular culture and places to see all varieties of domestic vehicles.
Bentley Motors has once again stepped outside the automotive world to create something unexpected yet unmistakably refined: a bespoke surfboard born from a unique collaboration with Marnie Rays and Otter Surfboards.
