Josh Clason has been on an absolute dream assignment if we’ve ever heard of one. He launched an automotive series with Hype Beast called Depth of Speed, and for the past year he’s been traveling around the country with his wife in a Airstream trailer documenting unique cars and their owners.

A few weeks ago Clason caught up with an icon of Mercedes design: the 300SL Gullwing.  Manufactured from 1954 to 1963, the Gullwing is considered by many to be the pinnacle of 1950′s automotive engineering. Its unique top-hinged Gull wing doors and direct fuel injection engine were the first of their day. Today, most Gullwings spend 365 days of the year in a garage or being shipped with white gloves from one premier car show to the next, but the owner Clason found in Albuquerque, New Mexico is one of the rare exceptions who actually takes his Gullwing out on extended trips.

Seeing the car’s seductive lines in motion and hearing the rich sound of its straight six as it winds down the stretch, makes you wonder how anyone in good conscious could keep one of these beautiful machines locked up in a showroom garage. Minor nicks and dings be damned, true happiness can only be found out on the open road.

[ Depth of Speed]