Rare 1957 Mercedes 300 SL With Gullwing Doors Just Sold For $1.15m

This rare 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL with gullwing doors just sold for $1.15m or about N445.7 million.

It is just one of the 1,400 Gullwing coupes built during a three-year (1954–1957) production run.

The 300 SL was capable of reaching a top speed of up to 263 km/h (163 mph).

It was both a sports car racing champion and the fastest production car of its time.

The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Grand tourer was voted the “sports car of the century” in 1999.

A rare 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing just sold for $1.152 million (N445.7 million, excluding destination and clearing charges) on car auction website, ‘Bring a Trailer’.

This Mercedes-Benz, chassis 040.6500313, is just one of the 1,400 Gullwing coupes built during a three-year (1954–1957) production run. It has roughly 91,000 km (~56,000 mi) on the odometer.

According to its listing, the Mercedes 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.

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A body-off restoration was carried out on the two-seat sports car between 2014 and 2016 by Thornley Kelham in the UK.

Work, during the three year restoration, included a color change to the current blue grey, blue upholstery, plaid cloth seat inserts, and a Becker Mexico radio.

Its 3.0-liter M198 inline-six now utilizes mechanical Bosch fuel injection to produce a factory-rated 215 horsepower at 5,800 rpm.

Following completion of the restoration, the rare car participated in the 2016 Salon Prive’ Concours d’Elegance at Blenheim Palace.

The SL in the models moniker is the short form for “super-light” in German; a designation referring to the car’s racing-bred light tubular frame construction.

300 SL is capable of reaching a top speed of up to 263 km/h (163 mph). It was both a sports car racing champion and the fastest production car of its time.

The rare Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Grand tourer was voted the “sports car of the century” in 1999.

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