The myth of the gull wings
Typically, a brand gets involved in competition to promote a high production street model and thus use this strategy as a powerful marketing action. The curious thing about this case is that here the story was the other way around. The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL was born as a pure and simple racing car.
Due to its successes and its groundbreaking design, the American importer wanted to turn it into a street car. Without his visionary initiative, I would never have made it to the series. This is without a doubt, a movie story.
If it weren’t for a Max Hoffman, the 300 SL would never have been produced. Hoffman saw enormous potential in that racing car. This nationalized American Austrian was also behind the creation of other sports cars from European brands such as the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Spider, Alfa Romeo Spider or the Porsche 356 Speedster. Based in New York, since 1952 Hoffman was the importer of Mercedes-Benz in the United States.
When Hoffman saw the 300 SL W194 racing, he believed that the car would be a commercial success in the United States. Neither short nor lazy he presented an order of 1,000 units. In addition to seeing this model as a business opportunity, Mercedes also understood it as a good marketing strategy to enhance the brand’s image in the important American market.
This is how the W198 was born, the first completely new sports car developed by Mercedes-Benz after the war. A project that began in September 1953 and was finally presented in February 1954 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. A high-performance supercar conceived in the image and likeness of the victorious 300 SL that had won the main endurance races of the 1952 season.
The design of the doors of the street model did not correspond to an advertising action inspired by the racing car. It was a necessity, since like the 300 SL W194, the 300 SL W198 for street use also had a tubular chassis that wrapped around the passenger compartment and there was only the possibility of using these vertically opening doors that earned the nickname of wings of seagull or gullwing
Given the size and location of both the gas tank and the spare wheel, the cargo space in its trunk was practically nil. The luggage should therefore be located behind the seats, inside the passenger compartment. If it is already difficult to get in and out of the interior of a 300 SL, I don’t want to imagine the contortions of the back that you have to do when carrying suitcases inside…
Its tubular chassis weighed only 50 kilos, the 3-liter engine received an injection system that increased power with respect to the racing car by an additional 40 hp. All this meant that the weight of the complete finished car was just 1,295 kilos and that it was capable of reaching a top speed of 260 km/h.
Between August 1954 and May 1957, 1,400 units of the 300 SL were built at the Sindelfingen factory near Stuttgart. Only 29 units resorted to a light alloy body.
At the 1957 Geneva Motor Show, the replacement for the 300 SL was presented, another supercar also motivated by requests made by the American importer Max Hoffman. Hoffman was clear that a convertible version of the 300 SL would be another commercial success.
Unfortunately, the gull-wing doors were lost here since it now adopted a Roadster-type configuration with an opening canvas roof. Not only did he lose the gullwing doors, he also gained numerous upgrades. The rear suspension was completely new and this modification provided a dynamic behavior far superior to that of the gullwing.
From October 1958 a hardtop type hardtop was available as an option. From 1961 the 300 SL replaced the drum brakes with Dunlop brake discs and from 1962 the engine block became light alloy. Between its launch in 1957 and production cessation in 1963, 1,858 units of the 300 SL Roadster were built, including hardtop versions.
In short
The 300 SL was what the French call a tour de force with the 300 SL Gullwing. After the Second World War, first they won again in competition and then they were also able to launch a revolutionary car with solutions not seen before, such as injection and gull-wing doors. In its day it was a car reserved for an elite, just as it is today. The current price of a 300 SL is around 1.2 and 1.5 million euros.
Depending on the state and configuration there are units around 2 million euros. As a curious fact, this is the only sports car that is priced more for the coupé version than for the convertible. It should be noted that a complete restoration in a specialist firm can cost around 800,000 euros. The ultra-rare gull-wings with light-alloy tubular chassis break the €6 million barrier.