Mercedes 300SL

'Oh Lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz.'

The Mercedes-Benz 300SL is a two-seat, closed sports car with characteristic gull-wing doors, and later, offered as an open roadster.


The Mercedes-Benz 300SL was best known for both its distinctive gullwing or butterfly wing doors and for being the first-ever gasoline-powered car equipped with fuel injection directly into the combustion chamber. The gullwing version was available from March 1955 to 1957. In Mercedes-Benz fashion, the "300" referred to the engine's cylinder displacement, in this case, three liters. The "SL", as applied to a roadster, stood for "Sport Leicht" or "Sport Light."

In 1952, the 300SL racing history includes overall wins at Le Mans, Berne, Nürburgring, and Mexico's Carrera Panamericana. It also managed second and fourth places at its first outing, the Mille Miglia in 1952. These successes, especially those on the high speed open road races, were rather surprising as the engine was fitted with carburetors and produced only 175 hp, less than the competiting models of Ferrari and Jaguar, and less than the road car later on. But low weight and low aerodynamic drag made the 300SL fast enough to be a challenger. Superior reliability made it a winner.

Mercedes 300 SL 2 door coupe; picture ©Mystic Realms

The 1955 sports racing car, named Mercedes-Benz 300SLR, was not based on the road 300SL, but on the Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz W196 race car with 8 cylinders in line. The engine capacity was enlarged from 2500cc to 3000cc, and it was powered by standard gasoline rather than a fuel mix including methanol. It won the 1955 Mille Miglia (with Stirling Moss at the wheel) with an average speed of 157.65 km/h in 1,600 km (97.96 mph in 994 miles). The 300SLR scored additional victories in Germany, Sweden, Ireland and at the Targa Florio in Sicily, and won the world championship for sports cars in the constructors' ranking. The 300SLR was withdrawn from the 1955 Le Mans disaster while leading, after a horrific accident involving one of the team's cars killed 82 spectators. In 2005, a 300SL Gull Wing driven by 87 year old John Fitch, one of the SLR Factory drivers in the 1955 Le Mans race and the GT class winner in MM driving a factory prepaired 300 SL Gull Wing, attempted to set a new F/GT class record for land speed record at Bonneville Speedway, but was thwarted by a balky fuel pump that limited top speed to 150 mph. After the run, the team vowed to return for a second attempt the next year. Fitch noted that he had driven these cars faster than that at night, in the rain, on the road with 60 other cars. 

Today, the 300SL with its unique doors and technological firsts is considered one of the most collectible Mercedes-Benz models of all time, with prices reaching well past the US$400,000 mark. In addition, Sports Car International magazine ranked the 300SL as the number 5 sports car of all time.

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