Going Once: Steve McQueen’s Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3L
The Keno brothers are premier American automotive antiquarians. They publish books, are experts on PBS’s Antiques Roadshow, and both have long tenures at famous auction houses. With a lifelong passion for collecting rare classic cars and knowledge of auctions, Leigh and Leslie Keno have established Keno Brothers Fine Automobile Auctions. Their first auto auction, Rolling Sculpture, will be held in New York City, with bidding going done today.
The Keno Brothers’ goal is to present a more entertaining and eventful way to bid for a car, which is as special as the car itself. Participants will enjoy a new era of auctioning with a four-dimensional bidding experience. By way of a complimentary touchscreen tablet connecting to the car using NFC technology, which unlocks a short vignette of your next dream car. How epic does this event sound? Epic! It is sheer brilliance blending the feel of a modern art museum, a fashion show, and mobile technology with auctioning.
Looking through the list of 40 unbelievably exceptional cars from the Keno Brothers auction, I would have to choose this 1972 Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3L for myself. A 0-100 MPH time of 14.6 seconds is amazing for its era as it was considered the fastest sedan in the world.
Being from Steve McQueen’s stable of road-going racecars and his daily driver for his last eight years brings so much clout to this car. It’s not just the celebrity factor that makes this car so desirable, it’s also that McQueen was a serious car guy, who must have taken special care of this car. It shows. It’s also the 300SEL 6.3L’s performance, comfort and this model’s restoration quality. The Restoration is well-documented in pictures spotlighting its Keno quality.
Aside from the McQueen selling point, the 300SEL 6.3L is internationally-known for being the foundation of the AMG brand. It served as the first racing vehicle for AMG. The two ex-Mercedes engineers who created AMG had a short racing campaign with this vehicle, bringing stardom to the AMG brand, and the 300SEL 6.3Ls.
It started as an in-house idea from a Mercedes engineer to stuff a big 6.3L from the 600 Pullman limo into the 300SEL. This wasn’t direction from a racing division, as top automakers work today. It was a major success over the four years of production from ‘68 to ‘72, which sold more than Mercedes’ top 600 model for the time. There are very few 300SEL 6.3Ls left, and I bet this will be a bidding war.
The 80,481 mile life of this big body Benz was loved and cared for solely by McQueen himself. I bet Steve loved the self-leveling suspension, roaring V8, and the big star and laurel marque pushing through the wind at the nose. The auction house experts speak highly of the quality restoration by Kinele Automobiltenik.
The Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3L is adored by so many auto enthusiasts throughout time, including Jay Leno, who was arrested in one just recently. Is this a car you could see in your garage next to your new S65 AMG?