Final Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing made heads to auction

The last Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing built will be among the lots of a small, but exclusive, RM Sotheby’s auction in Las Vegas.

Scheduled to cross the block Nov. 22, this Gullwing is the last of 1,400 built between 1954 and 1957. That’s based on its chassis number (7500079) and completion date (May 15, 1957), according to the auction listing.

Finished in Fire Engine Red with a Créme leather interior, this Gullwing was displayed at the Mercedes stand at the Poznan International Trade Fair in June 1957. It was then sent to the U.S. on September 27, 1957 to be sold.

The car has had just four owners since new, with the current owner keeping the car for over 25 years, RM Sotheby’s notes. It remains mostly original mechanically with a numbers-matching engine, transmission, body, and front axle. The rear axle is believed to be original as well, although that can’t be confirmed with the factory data card.

Designed as a race car, the 300SL Gullwing was built with a tube-frame chassis to maximum stiffness while keeping weight to a minimum. This necessitated the car’s namesake doors, as the chassis’ thick sills didn’t leave room for a big enough opening with conventional doors. Early examples were pure race cars, but Mercedes gradually adapted the SL Gullwing into a road car after lobbying from American importer Max Hoffman.

RM Sotheby’s expects the final Gullwing to sell for between $2.5 million and $3.5 million—in line for a car that isn’t one of the rarer aluminum-bodied Alloy Gullwings. One of those cars, in unrestored condition, just sold for $9.35 million as part of the Rudi Klein junkyard collection sale.