The cars in the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center showroom are for sale. Some don't list prices on their placards, so bring a lot of money. Stuff in the workshop either belongs to the company—and is very much not for sale—or belongs to a customer who wants the best restoration and service available. (You might get lucky with the right owner but, again, it's not going to be cheap.)

The Classic Center has original blueprints and can reproduce practically anything that can't be sourced. Cars from the Mercedes museum and collection are in and out all the time.

And then there's the not-open-to-the-public string of Mercedes's "Holy Halls." These non-descript buildings (they always are) are basically storerooms of Mercedes-Benz's 900-odd-car vehicular archives. Every car is historically significant, whether it be a race winner, a record-holder, a concept, or just a one-of-a-kind piece of rolling history.

We recently strolled through the showroom, generated saliva in the workshop out back, and got a rare look into one of the Holy Halls. Here is a sampling of what we saw.

David Gluckman

The silliest iteration of a straight up silly car: the roadster version of the homologation version of the CLK race car.

David Gluckman

Because you should have a CLK GTR and one of five road-going roadsters built. Price by request only. We did not have the stones to request.

There's a whole wall in the showroom devoted to the 60 or so colors Mercedes offered between 1948 and 1975. Each is represented by a painted 190SL model.

David Gluckman

More wall-to-color. The yellow-to-maybe-almost-blue section.

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A real, 1:1 scale 190SL, really painted silver.

David Gluckman

A 1937 540K Cabriolet C that had recently been purchased. It apparently spent some time in the States, as there's a bar-coded New York registration sticker in the window. Lord knows where it will end up next.

David Gluckman

We step into the CLassic Center workshop to find a 1914 GP car that was rebodied with 1919 skin. Fuel lines? You look like you could use some fuel lines.

David Gluckman

Not just a 300 SLR with 722 painted on it, the #722 SLR that Stirling Moss drove to the most dominant Mille Miglia win. Usually in the museum, but they're getting this amazing piece of pricelessness ready for some driving events. Because of course they are.

David Gluckman

A bare-aluminum 1937 W125 race car. Recently restored.

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1937 W125 in foreground, 1914/1919 GP car behind, SSK in corner. Oof.

David Gluckman

That SSK again. Cycle fenders. Fresh period Dunlops.

David Gluckman

You know neat stuff is happening when the bench looks like this. Extra points for British motorcycle junk.

David Gluckman

A 1906 Grand Prix racer. Bucket seats if ever seats were buckets.

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One of three identically prepared 190E 2.3-16s that went to Nardò in 1983. It got pretty dirty in the process of setting a ton of speed records over 50,000 km. And IT'S STILL DIRTY.

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Dirty car's engine. It was all stock, save for some fiddling with injection and and ignition to allow for constant high rpm and engine load.

David Gluckman

One of the dirty car's awesome cloth seats, next to a thing that travels around with amazing cars.

David Gluckman

600 Grosser in foreground, hardtop-wearing 300SL Roadster in background.

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That 300SL Roadster again. Few cars look this good on steel wheels.

David Gluckman

Another SSK and another 300SL. This is one of very few aluminum-body cars, painted a delicious blue with the plaid cloth interior. Aluminum cars can be spotted by their separate side spears, the gap between them and the body padded with leather.

David Gluckman

Just a Gullwing chassis hanging out, with freshly dropped engine. Remember that the 300 was evolved from a racing chassis—modified to reduce stiffness for Gullwing road cars, and then again to add some back in for the Roadster.

David Gluckman

Awesome electric car-moving contraption moves a very not-electric car.

David Gluckman

A real-deal Maybach Zeppelin, may contain lead. To the left, an early Benz wagon undergoing restoration.

One of the Holy Halls. That's a lot of silver car covers, many of which are ill-fitting to a comical degree. On the back wall are stacks of crated F1 cars. I counted at least two dozen.

The three cars we're really here to see. Note: None of them have conventional forward-hinged doors.

This, believe it or not, is a streamliner. It's a supercharged 540K underneath. Originally built for a 1938 race that never happened.

The original body was lost years ago, the aluminum used to build other race cars. Mercedes recently built it back up on the surviving frame.

You can see the original frame peeking out underneath in several spots. Cool.

The coefficient of drag is 0.36, compared to 0.57 for a stock 540K. It does 186 km/h with the supercharger, 170 without. Weighs something like 5000 pounds.

Now they keep it to a sensible 150 km/h.

The SLS AMG GT3 that won the 24h of Dubai, still wearing the bugs, dirt, and tire clag.

One of several C111 prototypes that originally had a Wankel four-rotor in it. It was converted to V-8 power because the experimental Wankel was a pain.

The apparent seating inspiration for the 190E 2.3-16.

More C111 prototypes, including the NACA-ducted, front-shelf-wearing record car that hit 251 mph to set a world circuit record.

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