HomeMediaFamily-owned since new, pair of 300SLs going to auction

Family-owned since new, pair of 300SLs going to auction

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A pair of Mercedes-Benz 300SLs in the garage | Gooding & Company photos by Brian Henniker
A pair of Mercedes-Benz 300SLs in the garage | Gooding & Company photos by Brian Henniker

A pair of Mercedes-Benz 300SLs, a 1955 Gullwing coupe and a 1957 roadster purchased by the same man and family-owned ever since, will be offered for sale at Gooding & Company’s Pebble Beach auction in August, the auction company announced.

The cars have been in long-term garage storage and are being offered in unrestored condition and with low mileage. The Gullwing is the only one produced in British Racing Green paint.

Gullwing in BRG
Gullwing in BRG

According to a video produced in conjunction with the cars being consigned to the auction, the consignor’s father bought the cars new, first the Gullwing and the roadster two years later. Though as the consignor notes, his father had to buy out someone already in line for one of the coupes.

His father, a Midwestern publishing executive, then paid an extra $65 to have the car painted at the factory in BRG. The car has a tan leather interior.

The coupe has been driven less than 13,400 miles, while the roadster has been driven more than 37,000 miles, said the consignor, who noted that the roadster is more practical for trips to the grocery. The roadster is in silver blue metallic with gray leather and parchment soft top. It also comes with its original, matching and trunk-fitted Karl Baisch luggage.

Fitted luggage in roadster's trunk
Fitted luggage in roadster’s trunk

The consignor inherited the cars in 1964, drove them very little and basically kept them in a garage until deciding it was time to offer them at auction. Gooding & Company expects the gullwing to bring $1 million to $1.3 million and the roadster to sell for $800,000 to $1 million at its Pebble Beach auction.

“Today, some 60 years on, it is almost impossible to find another pair of 300 SLs still in their original family ownership and unrestored,” Garth Hammers, Gooding car specialist, said in a news release.

“I think collectors are going to be very excited to see these two particular cars come to auction at Pebble Beach.”

The auction is scheduled for August 18-19 at the Pebble Beach Equestrian Center on the Monterey Peninsula.

Larry Edsall
Larry Edsall
A former daily newspaper sports editor, Larry Edsall spent a dozen years as an editor at AutoWeek magazine before making the transition to writing for the web and becoming the author of more than 15 automotive books. In addition to being founding editor at ClassicCars.com, Larry has written for The New York Times and The Detroit News and was an adjunct honors professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

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