1956 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing (more pics below 👇)
Works-prepared W194 variants achieved significant victories beginning in 1952, including overall wins at Le Mans and the Carrera Panamericana, along with strong results in the Liège-Rome-Liège rally, with Hermann Lang and Fritz Riess, Karl Kling and Hans Klenk, and other factory teams among the drivers.
Mercedes-Benz developed the production W198 as a road-going version of this successful competition car.
The defining feature was its upward-opening doors, necessitated by the tubular space frame chassis design. This construction provided exceptional rigidity but created high door sills that made conventional side-opening doors impractical, leading to the distinctive gullwing configuration.
First shown at the 1954 International Motor Sports Show in New York, the production model featured a 3.0-liter (2,996 cc) inline-six with Bosch mechanical direct fuel injection producing up to 215 horsepower and capable of approximately 160 mph, depending on axle ratio.
Between 1954 and 1957, Mercedes-Benz built 1,400 Gullwing coupes, with U.S. distributor Max Hoffman responsible for a substantial portion of the cars delivered to American buyers. The model attracted business executives, gentleman racers, and Hollywood celebrities.
Unrestored examples commonly exhibit corrosion in the lower sills and at connection points between the steel body panels and the tubular frame.
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