1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Sells For R19 Million
1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Sells For R19 Million At Auction on BringATrailer . This 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL is one of 1,400 Gullwing coupes built during a three-year production run and was shipped from the factory on February 22, 1957. The car, chassis 040.6500313, was delivered new on March 7, 1957 in Belgium, and remained with its first owner until 1981.
It then spent 22 years in the UK with its second owner before being acquired by the previous owners in 2003 and imported to Vancouver three years later. A body-off restoration was subsequently carried out between 2014 and 2016 by Thornley Kelham in the UK. Work included included a color change to the current blue grey and a rebuild of the numbers-matching 3.0L inline-six.
The numbers-matching four-speed transmission also remains fitted along with the original 3.64:1 rear differential. Additional features include Bosch fuel injection, blue upholstery, plaid cloth seat inserts, and a Becker Mexico radio. Following completion of the restoration, the car participated in the 2016 Salon Prive’ Concours d’Elegance at Blenheim Palace and was driven in the event’s Tour d’Elegance through the Cotswolds. After the selling dealer’s acquisition in 2020, Coachwerks Restoration in Victoria, Canada carried out an inspection, service, and correction of various cosmetic details.
This European-market W198 is now offered by the selling dealer with a copy of its factory build sheet, a set of three belly pans, an owner’s manual and tool kit, a book chronicling the restoration, and British Columbia registration.
Development of the 300SL was spurred by US importer Max Hoffman’s suggestion that Mercedes produce a sports car appealing to the American market. The model inherited several design elements from the company’s W194 sports racers, including upward-opening doors made necessary by a lightweight tubular space frame. Introduced at the 1954 International Motor Sports Show in New York, the production version of the 300SL utilized steel bodywork with aluminum panels for the hood, trunk lid, door skins, rocker panels, and floorboards.
