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Serial no.:
Curb weight:
Engine no.:
Cylinders: |
198 042-750 0107
2920 lbs
198 980-750 0119
6 |
Displacement:
Horsepower:
Acceleration:
Top Speed: |
2996 cc
250 bhp
7.0 sec (0-60)
142.9 mph |
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| The Mercedes
300SL is considered one of the most significant post-war automobiles
produced and is one of the most desirable sports cars ever built. The
street 300SL descended from the 1952 300SL race cars. These were the first
competition automobiles to come out of Stuttgart since The War and
although they were based on the big 300 series production cars, they
dominated sports car racing during their one season of competition,
winning five of the six international races they entered. |
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In
1954 Mercedes debuted the famous 300SL Gullwing (the name being derived
from the upward opening doors). This car was as a thinly disguised race
car, and, as such, was the supercar of the day. Although the factory never
campaigned the production Gullwing, its reputation was made on the tracks
of the world by many of the best drivers of the day. The Gullwing was in
production for four years and only 1400 were produced. |
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The 300SL Roadster was introduced at
the Geneva Automobile Show in March 1957, and production began that May.
The Roadster was designed as a true sports car, not a race car. Although
almost identical to the Gullwing, it was an evolutionary design, improving
on two of the Gullwing’s major shortcomings; the Gullwing’s very poor
ventilation and its tendency for treacherous over-steer (the result of the
swing-arm rear axle). The Roadster’s convertible top solved the
ventilation problem and a new low-pivot rear axle cured the over-steer.
The Roadster was a very desirable car despite its $7,200 price tag in
1957. The Roadster was produces through 1963 when it was replaced by the
230SL. Total production for the Roadster was 1858. |
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This particular 300SL was ordered by
Mr. Alfred Peyton Jenkins of Richmond, Virginia and delivered to him at
the factory in Stuttgart on July 22, 1957. It was the 27th
Roadster built (the production serial numbers having started at 0080). Mr.
Jenkins owned the car until his death in 1995 when his son, the current
owner, inherited it. The car is completely original. The interior has been
reupholstered, some of the chrome has been redone and the body has been
partially repainted. Mechanically the car is completely original and
untouched except for normal maintenance. |
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Photos to enlarge |
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