Never stripped down, never restored, still with its original paintwork, this Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing, equipped with rare period options including its NSL engine and naturally matching numbers, and which spent 53 years with its second owner, is offered in absolutely original condition after 34,000 km. It is sold with one of the original fitted suitcases (the other having been lost during the car’s lifetime), its Mercedes-Benz toolkit and a specially-made aluminum part to balance the wheels (the first we have seen supplied with a 300SL). It comes too with its patinated natural leather interior — never touched or cleaned — complete with an exterior temperature gauge in front of the passenger (again something we have never seen on this model), its very first number plate with the number from 1956 which has never been changed, and, above all, its layer of dust, that dust which has protected it from any degradation.
It is worth recalling the production figures: Only 250 or so examples of the 300SL were supplied new with an engine for performance driving — the famous NSL engine developing an extra 20 hp — this figure including the 29 aluminum-bodied 300SLs. One-hundred-seventy of these 250 cars left the factory with the NSL engine and Rudge wheels. And a mere hundred or so had the NSL engine, Rudge wheels, and sports springs and shock absorbers, not to mention the other options. This therefore makes this car one of about 60 built to this specification, which was identical to the 29 aluminum-bodied models.
(Introductory description courtesy of Artcurial.)
