1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing

Description Beautifully restored and maintained example of the world’s first supercar Offered from single-family ownership and care for the past 65 years Confirmed matching numbers example – chassis, body, engine FIVA certified - Identity Card (107FRN118) issued 11/15/2022 Retaining originally specified Fire Engine Red (DB-534) paint color Factory-specified Black leather (953) interior matching original code Accompanied by factory data card copy and itemized restoration and maintenance records Includes a written account of the Gullwing’s life with the Dunne family Two-time Gull Wing Group International show winner since 2017 Low original miles – Odometer reads 41,000 One of the finest and most iconic postwar sports cars ever producedUniversally recognized as a design and engineering tour de force, the 1954-57 Mercedes-Benz 300SL “Gullwing” Coupe stands today as one of the ultimate sports cars ever produced. Upon introduction, the road going 300SL carried a virtually unbeatable reputation, having been derived from the devastatingly successful ‘W194’ competition coupes which returned Mercedes-Benz to racing and utterly dominated the 1952 international racing calendar. Its 1954 New York debut rewrote history as the first time a Mercedes-Benz model was introduced outside of Germany. According to early-1950s factory records, its “SL” designation translated to English as “SuperLightweight” and its many race-derived features included an extremely light, yet strong tubular spaceframe and fully independent suspension. Powering the 300SL was an SOHC 3.0-liter (2,996 cc) straight-six engine with competition-typedry-sump lubrication. Its Bosch mechanical fuel injection system was a production-car first. Power, rated at 240 bhp at 6,100 rpm under American SAE testing and 215 bhp at 5,800 rpm under the stricter German DIN rating system, was delivered through a 4-speed manual gearbox. Offered with a standard 3.64:1 final-drive ratio, the 300SL could be equipped with several other factory-available ring-and-pinion combinations, making the 300SL potentially the fastest series-production car of its time, with magazine road tests reporting top speeds of 130 mph and beyond. Production of the semi-hand-built 300SL “Gullwing” Coupe continued into 1957, with 1,400 built in total. Considering all the greatest postwar sports cars, the Mercedes-Benz 300SL “Gullwing” continues to top most every “Greatest Cars” list compiled and published today. This beautifully restored and maintained example from 1955 is a confirmed matching numbers example (chassis, body and engine) with truly wonderful single-family provenance for the past 65 years. Delivered new to Mercedes-Benz New York on September 1, 1955, this 300SL “Gullwing” was finished in Code DB534 Feuerwehrrot (Fire Brigade Red) paint and Code 953 Black leather upholstery – the combination it sports today. It is now offered from single-family ownership and care since it entered the life of Tony (Anthony L.) Dunne, a 22-year-old MIT-educated engineer from Troy, New York, in April 1961. According to an account from the Dunne family, Tony was thrilled to see an ad published in The Philadelphia Inquirer for this car, and when he called in response, the salesman said he’d already received an inquiry, so the first person to show up with money in hand would get the car. Tony went to work the next morning and advised his boss, “I have to run an errand; I’ll be back as soon as I can” - which was not a lie, although he did not, in fact, make it back to work until the next day. Having received a loan from his father, a judge in Troy, for $4,500, Tony raced to the dealer, was first to arrive with the funds, and purchased the car, which has remained with the Dunne family ever since. One and a half years later, Tony took his bride, Helene, on their honeymoon to Nova Scotia with the red Gullwing. On their way, Helene noticed a line of cars following them and asked Tony to pull over at the next town so they could pass. He did, and much to her chagrin, so did everyone else - so he put Helene out on the curb and gave rides to everyone who wanted one in the futuristic Gullwing. Not long after their honeymoon trip, the Gullwing ended up in the one-car garage at the Dunne family home in Quaker Hill, Connecticut, replaced by station wagons but occasionally getting some love from the kids, who would climb in and play Speed Racer. Dubbed “The Mistress” by Helene, the 300SL spent much of the following decades mostly unused until the late 1980s, when Tony sent it for a complete restoration by Paul Russell & Company in Essex, Massachusetts, where it shared space with famed designer Ralph Lauren’s own Gullwing. Following completion of the restoration in 1992, the beloved Gullwing was driven in several Gull Wing Group events, with venues including Montvale, New Jersey, the Greenbrier in West Virginia, Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City; and to St. Louis, where it was photographed and featured on the cover of the Gull Wing Group newsletter, The 300 Star Letter, under the famous Gateway Arch, and on tours around New England before eventually making its way to Saratoga, New York. A repaint was performed in 2015. Beginning in 2017, at about 27,000 miles, “The Mistress” was sent to Albrecht Stachel and Alison Fisk of Brooklyn Motoren Werke in Brooklyn, Wisconsin, where it received mechanical upgrades allowing it to thrive with today’s oils and gasolines, plus the addition of an electric cooling fan and steel braided fluid hoses. Most exciting for his children, Tony finally let them actually drive the car! On two occasions since 2017, this 300SL has won awards in Gull Wing Group show competition, confirming its excellence and the loving care it has received with the Dunne Family. In 2022, the 300SL was inspected at the Gull Wing Group Convention, and its FIVA Identity Card (no. 107FRN118), was duly issued on November 15, 2022, and accompanies the sale of the vehicle. Tony passed away in 2024, and his fa