The Black Torpedo
After Mercedes-Benz introduced its new 300SL, Duncan was hired to shoot a 16-page spread in Sports Illustrated dedicated to the car. At Mercedes’ Stuttgart office, he told the confounded public relations man, Artur Keser, that rather than the typical glamour shots of the car, he wanted to photograph the “spirit” of the Gullwing. Duncan told Keser he would need his fastest car, his fastest driver, and police roadblocks to close off the streets of the little village of Sindelfingen.
The resulting images pleased Keser and the Mercedes brass, and after Duncan photographed the prototype 300SL roadster a year later for Colliers, they proposed to give him a Gullwing as payment. He accepted, but asked that his car be painted black, not a standard color at the time. After Mercedes officials saw the striking results, they ordered black cars in Stuttgart. “Of course they did,” says Duncan, “Black was the perfect color. Mine is still the most beautiful car ever built.”
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