Everrati Mercedes-Benz SL Pagoda 2024 review | First Drive

Taking the old-fashioned bits out of classic cars to turn them into EVs is a bit of an emotive subject. Invective is poured upon those who dare to do such a thing by those with opinions online. It’s as if the very soul of motoring is being corrupted by such works. 

To an extent, you can understand the reaction. These are more than machines to fans of cars. To take out what people consider the heart, especially if it’s not done tastefully and well, could be close to criminal.

That’s the tightrope that companies like Everrati must walk. It was almost fair enough to remove the engine from a Series Land Rover, they’re hardly the most soulful of things. But stripping a GT40 of its V8 or a Porsche 964 of its flat-four? That is tricky. 

That hasn’t put Everrati off though. The latest car to be “respectfully redefined” is the W113 Mercedes-Benz SL, the Pagoda. A car that has developed a reputation for beauty, and which was powered by a classic inline-six. We were given a bit of time to find out whether the work that goes into creating such a silent cruiser was worthwhile.

What do you say that’s new about the Pagoda? While it’s not as famous as that other wearer of the SL name, the 300 Gullwing, the Pagoda is probably just as attractive when taken in its own right. 

The profile is an elegant box, with a very upright windscreen behind a squarish nose. The headlights sit upright in a manner that shouldn’t really work but does. The Mercedes grille and chrome detailing scream “French Riviera”.

So the obvious thing to do with it from a design point of view was nothing, which is exactly what Everrati has done. There are two changes to the Pagoda – the slight alteration to the fuel cap, behind which now sits the charging port, and the deletion of the exhausts, unnecessary as they now are. Oh, there’s also the addition of the Everrati script. 

And that’s it. When pushing a classic to the most modern of extremes there’s a temptation to go to, well, extremes. To bring the whole thing up to the current day. But Everrati has resisted that, keeping to an ethos of protecting these cars, not overhauling them. We’re all for that.

The car that we’re driving today, to give it its full title the Electrified Mercedes-Benz SL W113 ‘Pagoda’ by Everrati, is a pre-production car. An engineer has to accompany us on all drives, and it is not road-legal, so our time with the SL is on the roads of a country estate (not Goodwood). Such is the attention to detail of Everrati’s team, that the man alongside me in the car is noticing things he still wants to change as we test the SL.

To make Everrati’s version of the SL, the engine and transmission are stripped out, and then the donor car is restored to as-new standards. What’s underneath, other than the obvious, is the same as it was when Mercedes designed the SL with a little fine-tuning. Motors and batteries are added in such a way that should replicate the weight distribution of the original. So a battery pack sits where the engine once did, and the electric motor is on the rear axle. Everrati could make its cars with modern skateboard engineering, but that wouldn’t give you the feel of the original. 

The 54kWh battery sends its power to a 300PS (220kW) motor capable of sending the SL to 62mph in under eight seconds. That’s faster than the original SL, but not by a significant enough amount to feel wrong. The range is around 160 miles, but if you opt for the “Touring” spec, the battery swells to 68kWh and range hits 200 miles. At that point the sprint to 62 would drop below seven seconds, but having driven the standard car that feels unnecessary. 

Also new to the SL is regenerative braking. Currently it’s gentle, but Everrati has plans for a full one pedal driving mode in the future. 

The numbers only tell one story. Yes, this Pagoda is faster than the original SL, it’s also of course significantly quieter. But it feels astonishingly authentic. From the moment you slip just about underneath the giant bakelite-style steering wheel, this feels like nothing more than a silent Pagoda. 

Handling is weighted toward comfort, with the Everrati Pagoda riding these country lanes without any fuss. Roof down the silence is intriguing at first, and calming after. You could imagine cruising through Southern Europe in relaxed silence in this, never feeling ruffled by the clatter of an engine that’s up to 60 years old. 

What is different is the way Everrati’s Pagoda delivers its power. We were limited to well under motorway speeds on our drive, but the integration of the motor is interesting. Far from dumping loads of electric torque into the chassis of an old fashioned Mercedes, the Everrati SL has been tuned to move swiftly, but without alarm. Even in the mid range, where EVs can shock even the most expecting of passengers, the SL changes velocity with haste rather than speed. It swells in a way mildly reminiscent of an engine, urgent but not overly so.

What we are missing here is a real chance to take too many corners at speed. The SL rolls significantly, as you would expect, as it moves and we suspect would be a handful should you attempt some more spirited driving. Another day in the car is needed to explore a few more of the limits. The steering is lighter than expected but feels reassuring and the style in which the body moves shows that its retuned damping would not get irritating after a long period of time.

The interior of the SL has had more changes than the outside. The design remains largely the same, but customers can play around with an almost bewildering array of options for what materials they want used. 

The dash is full but elegant. An old-fashioned radio (capable of Bluetooth integration) still sits in the middle and the vents, controlled by sliding knobs, look simple but in place. The wheel is the star here. Akin to driving a bus at times, the plastic outside in pure white with its leather and metal interior design is magnificently over the top. The kind of ‘60s kitsch thing that should not be messed with. The seats are bouncy, feeling almost like the sprung seats you see on lorries or buses. But they’re comfortable and suit the movements of the car well. 

The ergonomics are just as 1960s as the looks. If you want to take your handbrake off you’re going to be reaching into the passenger footwell, the seat is very high under the wheel and seat belts… What seat belts?

There are a couple of changes to note. The gearstick has only two movements, forward and back, selecting drive, neutral and reverse, but is the same physical instrument as originally. While the dials look like they’ve come right out of the 1960s, there are small screens embedded within to add an extra touch of modernity. That’ll display things like range, speed and gear selection.

Mod cons have been littered around this cabin in such a non-intrusive manner that we didn’t notice them all until a second look. Heated seats, Bluetooth integration, charging sockets and those custom-designed dials are all options that can be fitted to any Everrati.

Trying to stick to the theme of carbon reduction, the Everrati SL uses the world’s lowest carbon leather from Scottish company Bridge of Weir. All the materials feel good, retaining the look of the original, but coming up to modern standards.

We don’t have any stats for charging yet, but CCS charging is standard for use on both AC and DC chargers.

I approached the electrified Everrati SL with more than a hint of trepidation. I have no real care for the argument that takeing the engine of such a car is the removal of its heart, but it would be so easy to go way too far. You can really douse the soul of a classic car by trying to make it “perfect”. 

In fact, such is the rate of change in modern automotive technology, that it would almost be harder not to go too far. The toys are all there in the toybox, even the most mediocre of family boxes goes like the proverbial off a shovel these days. So that makes what Everrati has done with the SL all the more impressive. 

To anyone who doesn’t know, it’s another SL, a piece of automotive art wandering by down the street. Only the complete silence would let on. The drive that goes with it feels as engaging as an analogue car should, while adding decidedly digital technology. The reassuring push in the back from the motors feels like it swells the way it should, rather than thumping you into modern life.

We do need more time with the Everrati SL to really tell you exactly what it feels like. There are a few questions that our test drive could never properly answer. But on the face of it, this feels like quite the achievement. 

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