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| 1955 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class |
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Price: Email for Price |
Last Updated 56 minutes ago
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| Year: |
1955 |
| Make: |
Mercedes-Benz |
| Model: |
SL-Class |
| Trim: |
N\A |
| Engine: |
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| Fuel: |
N\A |
| Color: |
Silver Gray Metallic |
| Miles: |
9963 |
| Stock #: |
500289 |
| Body Style: |
Convertible |
| Condition: |
Used |
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Vehicle Description
The unmistakable flowing silhouette sketched by the signature doors of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing Coupe forms the basis of a sports car icon. With its unique birdcage frame that facilitated the fitment of these famous doors, the 300 SL revolutionized contemporary car design and raised new performance benchmarks against which all future sports cars were to be judged. Its lightweight construction, show-stopping aesthetics, and marvelous powerderived from the straight-six, 3.0-liter fuel-injected enginecombine for an altogether enthralling and spirited driving experience. Notwithstanding its world-beating competition pedigree, the 300 SL Gullwing has always been associated with the worlds upper crust: socialites, business tycoons, racing drivers, movie stars and royalty. The story of this extremely well-documented 1955 Gullwing begins with a distinguished, German member of the latter class. By late 1945 it was quite evident that many German families, which had previously counted themselves as wealthy, successful, and influential during the pre-war period, would emerge into the wreckage of the countrys post-war landscape without a cent to their name. Industrial titans, ennobled lords, real estate magnatesvery few fortunes, and even fewer families, were unscathed by the unrelenting chaos of Germanys destruction, administration, and subsequent reconstruction. But this chaos also presented many opportunities, and countless new fortunes were minted by enterprising young businessmen. The original owner of this fantastic 300 SL Gullwing exhibited the rare combination of these remarkable, and fortunate, qualities. Franz II, Count of Erbach-Erbach and Wartenberg-Roth, had been thrust into the role of familial patriarch for his high noble clan at only 18 years old. Yet from an early moment, he exhibited a solid business acumen to leverage the familys holdings and business interestswhich had remained largely intact through World War IIquite extensively to generate new successes over the course of his reign. By 1955, the 29-year-old Count was already an experienced businessman who enjoyed a certain degree of comfort, and it must be said that his visits to the familys timber tracts and varied business entities around Hesse were made all the more enjoyable with the delivery of this 300 SL Gullwing Coupe on 4 May 1955. And who better to deliver such a fine motorcar to the Counts palace in Erbach than the Mercedes-Benz sales agent and former Grand Prix driver, Rudolf Caracciola? Originally specified by the Count in the handsome color combination of blue gabardine cloth upholstery (L1) beneath an exterior painted in the models signature shade of Silver-Grey Metallic (DB 180), chassis 5500289 also received 15-inch Kronprinz disc wheels, bumper overriders, 3.64 rear axle, a drivers side mirror, and the Hessian registration number AH91-3737. Production statistics for the 300 SL published by Mercedes-Benz indicate that this Gullwing was one of only 66 orders destined for the home market in 1955. Despite his great enjoyment of the car, the Counts growing family soon necessitated the need for a more spacious (and perhaps slower) means of conveyance. In early 1957, Graf Franz sold 5500289 back to Mercedes-Benz. It was then sold in July 1957 by Manfred Budde of the factorys Direct Sales department to Lt. Robert Hinrichs and promptly anointed with the US Forces in Germany plate 7C-60429. Hinrichs time with this eminent Gullwing was equally brief, although accompanying historic imagery illustrates the continental tours of Europe which Robert and his new wife Helga undertook during the summers of 1957 and 1958. The Gullwing was shortly thereafter imported by an enthusiast in Ohio, and passed through one additional owner in that state until it was purchased in 1970 by the noted Gullwing Group member Gordon Black. During Blacks 30 years of ownership, the vehicle was regularly serviced by marque specialist Paul Russell. Black substituted the |
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PRIVATE COLLECTION MOTORS INC
849 W 18th St. Suite A
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
Click for phone
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