Million Pound Mercedes in Historics 28th November Auction

A pristine 1955 Mercedes 300SL Gullwing will be one of the stars of Historics 28th November classic car auction, held, appropriately, at Mercedes Benz World, Brooklands, Surrey.

These cars are currently fetching around the equivalernt of £1,000,000 at classic car auctiuons in the USA and Mainland Europe so Historics estimate of £925,000-£1,125,000 is bang-on ballpark.

Anyone wanting to view the car before the sale can do so at the Classic & Sports Car London Show at Alexandra Palace from Friday to Sunday, then at Mercedes Benz World, Brooklands from 2nd November.

Built at the Mercedes-Benz works in March 1955, this exceptional Gullwing was ordered new by Adam Opel AG of Mainz, Germany on behalf of a special client. This, in itself, is unusual as very few 1955 Gullwings were sold new into Europe, most being despatched to the USA, where the car took the automotive world by storm at its unveiling in February 1954.

Shortly after being sold new, Harley Earl, the legendary American automotive architect and head of design at General Motors, arranged for the purchase of the car and had it shipped to his home in the USA. Once Earl retired, this and several other of his motorcars were sold and subsequently acquired by a collector with whom it would remain for the next 30+ years.

The following owner began a four-year painstaking body-off restoration in 1990.  It was during this process of restoration that the coachwork was changed from silver/grey metallic to Fire Engine Red and the interior retrimmed from red leather to tan.  On completion, the pristine car was sold to a museum in Japan under the watchful eye of its private collector, and remained there before once again making a sea crossing to a new owner back in the USA, before returning to the UK.

Confirmed by the Mercedes-Benz factory as an all matching-numbers Gullwing, the car is presented in magnificent condition after being fully re-commissioned by renowned 300SL specialists in the UK, Templar & Wilde.

This wonderful example of the legendary and much sought-after car, with a fascinating and prominent ownership history, is expected to attract significant attention from UK-based and international collectors at Historics’ major sale of 130 classic motorcars at Mercedes-Benz World, Brooklands, Surrey on Saturday, 28^th November.

For consignments and auctions details, please visit www.historics.co.uk