Super Rare 300SL Gullwing Duo Take a Bow at Amelia Island
Consecutive 43rd and 44th 1954 M-B W198 300SLs took the stage at the 2019 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance in Florida.
This past weekend was the 2019 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance in Florida, which entered its 24th year. The largest Concours show on the East Coast is known to celebrate some of the world’s finest, most expensive and most pristine examples of automotive history. And this year of course, is no different.
No Concours show is complete without its fair share of Silver Arrows of course but this year’s event showcased a very unique pairing. In what seems to be a very rare occurrence, Mercedes-Benz officially announced that two W198 300SL Gullwings will be making their appearance. Sounds pretty normal for just any Concours d’Elegance. But this isn’t just any normal pair of W198 Gullwings.
Instead, this pair just happens to consecutively be the 43rd and 44th 300SL Gullwings to ever roll off the assembly line in Stuttgart, Germany. Both cars were discovered originally as “barn finds” in early 2018.
Car number 43 specifically was sold and shipped to Miami in 1954 and only legally registered for 10 years. Being a 1954 car, it sports some particularly unique identifiably bespoke touches. Such includes bolt-on fender flares, a slightly different grille shape, and handmade badges, all of which indicates a first-model-year car.
When it was found just last year, it was in completely original and estimated to worth at least $900,000 in its original state, according to Road & Track. It had also appeared that the previous owner—who just happens to be a close friend to Bill Warner, founder and chairman of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance—began prepping Gullwing #43 for a complete repaint of its original mid-blue hue.
But somewhere in between, the restoration halted, and the car remained in storage ever since having only been primed and sanded. When discovered, Warner invited Hagerty’s Barn Find Hunter host, Tom Cotter, for a video walkaround. Cotter then believed Gullwing 43’s restoration could take at least two years and $500,000.
Gullwing #44 on the other hand underwent an extensive, no-hold-barred restoration by Mercedes-Benz Classic Center. It was estimated that the fully-restored Concours-quality Gullwings could fetch as much as $1.3 million at minimum.
Both Gullwing #43 and #44 shared its own display at this year’s Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.
Photos: Daimler
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