Vehicle Description
1955 Mercedes 300SL Gullwing: One of One Produced with Original
Color Scheme Green over Green-Gray Leather. Matching Numbers and
RestoredAs one of 1400 Gullwing coupes built by Mercedes-Benz
between 1954 and 1957, this unique example was shipped from the
factory on April 30, 1955 as a US market example specified for
delivery to Mercedes-Benz Distributors of New York. With special
livery adorning it from new, 300SL chassis 5500263 was delivered in
what is believed to be a the one-of-one original color scheme for
300SL Gullwings of Mittelgrn (DB-229G Green over green-gray leather
(1170). The car came with bolt-on steel wheels with hubcaps along
with a green painted dash, instruments in English and sealed-beam
headlights.300SL Gullwing chassis 5500263 spent early portions of
its life in both Ohio and Indiana before being purchased by the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Foundation in January of 1973. The car
subsequently entered the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum
collection where it was later restored by IMS Museum staff in the
late 2000s. The car was displayed periodically in the Museum from
2015 to 2020 and was shown as part of The Basement Collection tour
when not displayed on the main floor.Today, the car is finished in
its original shade of Mittelgrn (DB-229G) with power provided by
its original, matching numbers fuel-injected 3.0L inline-six
engine. The car has been fully restored in the mid-2000s in
body-off fashion with every part having been refinished to a high
standard of quality including the chassis and engine bay. New body
and window seals were added at the time of restoration, and
brightwork was polished along with all chrome having been redone.
The frame of the car was powder-coated at the time of restoration
by Indy Powder Coating of Speedway, Indiana. The seats, dash pad,
transmission tunnel, and sills were retrimmed in beige leather
sourced from Landwerlen Leather Company of Indianapolis, Indiana
while matching square-weave carpets are fitted along with correct
black rubber footwell mats. Body-color 15 wheels with body color
hubcaps hold the Michelin radial tires currently fitted to the car,
and a matching spare wheel with a period correct Michelin X tire is
mounted in the trunk space. The engine was fully rebuilt during the
restoration, and the engine block itself was thermal cleaned,
bored, and honed by Schmidt Automotive Machine Shop of
Indianapolis, Indiana, in September 2007, while the cylinder head
was fully cleaned at the same time. The fuel injection pump was
rebuilt by Pacific Fuel Injection of San Francisco, California in
2008, also as part of the comprehensive restoration. New rubber
suspension components were sourced during the restoration, and
invoices for various portions of the sublet work accompany the
car.In February of 2022, the car was sent to Scott Grundfor Company
in Arroyo Grande, California for full inspection. The restoration
of the car completed by the IMS Museum was exhaustively examined
and found to be very thorough, but like many other comprehensive
restorations, the final steps of sorting and fine tuning the
vehicle for regular use and cosmetic fine tuning had not been
completed. Hundreds of hours have been spent since arriving at
Scott Grundfor Company in order to finalize the restoration and
draw out the quality of the car from a cosmetic standpoint, with
many hours spent hand-trimming rubber and making other adjustments
to refine the door, hood and trunk fits. And as with any
restoration where a car is fully taken apart for refurbishment and
later reassembled, final sorting is required in the form of test
driving for regular road use and touring capability. In addition to
final sorting procedures, a full service has been performed while
several hundred miles of use has been recorded since arrival at
Scott Grundfor Company in order to make the car just as at home on
the road as it is in the showroom. Receipts from Scott Grundfor
Company accompany the car. This matching numbers 300SL Gullwing,
with a body-off restoration performed by the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway museum in the cars ultra-rare original color of Mittelgrn
green and final sorting provided by Scott Grundfor Company, is
offered with original belly pans, spare parts, tools, keys, a copy
of the factory build sheet, correspondence between previous owners,
along with restoration photos and other documentation. One of One
Originally Produced in Green over Green-Gray leather Retaining its
Original Matching Numbers Engine 'Body-Off' Restoration and
Mechanically Excellent Offered with Original Belly Pans, Tools,
Keys, Copy of Factory Build Sheet Accompanied by Correspondence
between Previous Owners, Restoration Photos and DocumentationPrice:
$1,950,000
