There’s a name in Mercedes-Benz history that carries almost mythological weight: Rudolf Uhlenhaut. The engineer and designer behind the legendary 300 SL Gullwing was known to drive the prototype racing versions of the car to work in Stuttgart, casually lapping most professional racing drivers in the process.
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. Remarkably, he pulled it off.
Designer: Gabriel Naretto
The Mercedes-AMG Uhlenhaut Shooting Brake concept arrives draped in obsidian black, and it hits you in layers. From the front, the DNA of the original 300 SL is unmistakable but filtered through a thoroughly contemporary lens. That iconic central grille with the three-pointed star sits framed in warm copper gold, flanked by large air intakes that mirror the same bronze-kissed treatment. The X-shaped daytime running lights cut through the glossy black bodywork like a precision incision, echoing AMG’s current design vocabulary while feeling completely unique to this car. The hood is long and muscular in the classic front-engine GT tradition, but the surfaces flow with a smoothness that feels almost liquid, like someone poured ink over a clay sculpture and let it set.
Then you walk around to the side, and the shooting brake proportions hit you all at once. Naretto has given this concept a fastback-style extended roofline that arcs gracefully rearward before dropping into a truncated Kamm-tail rear, and it works brilliantly. The roofline is outlined by a thin copper pinstripe that traces the greenhouse all the way to the tail, a detail so refined it belongs on a Swiss watch rather than an automobile. “V12” badging sits discreetly on the sill, a knowing nod to the kind of naturally aspirated thunder that the original Uhlenhaut Coupe’s racing engine would have produced. The body itself is devoid of unnecessary creases or character lines, relying entirely on curvature and proportion to generate visual drama, which is an incredibly difficult thing to pull off and an even more impressive thing to actually see rendered this well.
The doors, of course, are gullwing. There was never any other option for a car wearing the Uhlenhaut name. When they swing open, they reveal a cabin wrapped in black leather accented with copper stitching, with deeply bolstered racing seats and a minimal instrument layout that prioritizes the driving experience over digital noise. The steering wheel is small and driver-focused, and while the concept renders don’t offer a full cockpit tour, what’s visible suggests Naretto was thinking about the complete experience rather than just the silhouette.
The taillights are styled as three-pointed star clusters rendered in deep red, a sculptural interpretation of the Mercedes badge that functions as a graphic element rather than just a regulatory necessity. A subtle integrated spoiler sits at the trailing edge of the roofline, and the diffuser treatment below the bumper gives the rear end genuine aerodynamic intent. The AMG-badged multi-spoke wheels in gloss black with copper center caps complete the picture, tying the whole visual package together in a way that feels considered and cohesive from every angle.
Naretto’s concept navigates the tension between historical reverence and forward-looking design just beautifully. He preserved the emotional architecture of the Gullwing, the long hood, the coupe greenhouse, the gullwing doors as ceremony, and then reimagined everything else through the filter of a modern AMG performance car. The shooting brake body style was a masterstroke of a choice, because it gives the car a sense of versatility and intelligence that a pure coupe wouldn’t carry, while also referencing Mercedes-Benz’s own history with practical performance vehicles like the CLS Shooting Brake and the AMG GT 4-Door.
Parked against the Georgian townhouses of what appears to be a Kensington street in those lifestyle renders, the Uhlenhaut concept looks like it belongs to a world where automotive design never stopped being an art form. Rudolf Uhlenhaut himself would probably have driven it to work.
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