Did you know Brabus is capable of showing restraint? No, neither did we. We are talking about the tuning house responsible for turning a Mercedes-AMG G63 into a dune buggy after all.

Its latest project is the exact opposite of what it usually does. The brief here was to restore the car to its exact original specification. The car in question is a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing with close ties to Andy Warhol. In case you don't recognize the name, Warhol was a film director, producer, and photographer, but is best known for being the father of pop art.

The Gullwing needs no introduction. It's one of the most sought-after sports cars ever and a pristine example recently sold for $6.8 million.

Warhol had a tumultuous career spanning three decades but was arguably at the height of his fame in the 1980s.

In 1986, Daimler approached Warhol with an exciting concept. Mercedes-Benz was turning 60 that year, and we can only assume that this project would have been part of the celebrations. Daimler provided Warhol with 80 photographs of 20 cars. Warhol was meant to create a series of artworks collectively known as "Cars."

According to Daimler, Warhol's creations would tell the story of the car. The first car ever was invented by the famous Karl Benz, so it's likely the collection would have stretched back that far.

Unfortunately, Warhol died in 1987 before completing the collection. The collection ended up consisting of 36 paintings and 13 drawings. One of these drawings was of a 300 SL Gullwing.

Brabus purchased a 300 SL in 2020, though it does not say what it had in mind. If we had to guess, it likely wanted to shoehorn the Brabus 800's engine under that beautifully sculpted hood.

Thankfully, before starting a project, Brabus researched properly and noticed that the chassis number and license plate matched the car that Warhol painted.

As an homage to a great American artist, Brabus spent 4,500 hours restoring the car to its original glory. Even the 3.0-liter straight-six was restored, producing the same 215 horsepower it did when it left the dealer floor. The body was stripped but painted in the exact Silver Grey 180 Metallic as the original car. The interior was also restored to original using Brabus' Saddlery department.

Until recently, the car was on display at the Mercedes-Benz museum, but it will likely go on a world tour. Let's hope it reaches America, so we can also see what a brand-new Gullwing looks like.