Such requests were not uncommon at Sbarro. But in this case, Franco Sbarro was put off by the client's lack of enthusiasm and passion. As a result, the Sheikh repeated his request with a few words that changed everything: "I give you carte blanche"! The result is an impressive Mercedes coupé with gullwing door.

The first model built was for the Arab prince's fiancée, Shahin. This name was later unofficially adopted for the entire "gullwing" series. The adoption of butterfly doors is a difficult and perilous exercise. The problems to be solved are more numerous than one might think at first sight: reinforcing the rigidity of the self-supporting structure, the rigidity and weight of the doors, sealing, fitting, precision and reliability. Highly sophisticated work, where nothing is left to chance. Sbarro already had some experience in this field with one of its first prototypes, the SV1 coupé.

A colossal work

Sbarro didn't settle for rough work. The entire body has been rebuilt in polyester, with different dimensions from the original coupé. The car has been lengthened by 20 centimeters at the front and shortened by 10 centimetres at the rear. The gullwing doors have been reduced as much as possible so as not to be too heavy to handle. The interior is entirely new. Sbarro has done away with the traditional Mercedes grille, replacing it with a set of horizontal bars covering double headlights. This type of grille would later be used by Sbarro on other models, such as the Axel Onyx station wagon. Rocker panels and new rims complete the exterior transformations.

A dozen Mercedes were transformed, each one unique, even in its dimensions. One of them is the subject of a separate page on this site, the Biturbo, equipped with a 6.9-liter twin-turbocharged engine.
Four examples were sent to Duchatelet in Belgium, where they were painted and fitted out. They were given the name Albatros.
One unique example is not a coupé, but a 560 SEL four-door butterfly limousine, blue and red, built for the Sultan of Brunei.