Gear -- 4 days ago
Words: Gentleman's Journal
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Price – £500,000 (approx) | Top Speed – 160mph | Engine 6-cylinder, 215 bhp
If you had to describe beauty, the 300SL Gullwing is it. The original Gullwing is perhaps one of the most sort after cars in the world.
It is astonishing to think that the 300SL was introduced into a post war world and was first a race car, which had many victories to it’s name, including Le Mans and the Nurburgring. It was a revolutionary car back then, most notably being the first car to use direct fuel injection. It was after it’s success as a race car when Mercedes decided to turn it into the worlds first super car.
It had it all, the power of 215 bhp, which was unheard of in that day, but more importantly it had unrivaled beauty. This amazing style wasn’t created for looks, but for practical engineering, such as the rounded shape and flare that kept the air clean resulting in the car going as fast as possible. It was also built with no outside mirrors, no door handles and with the signature Gullwing doors. All of which were for one reason only, to make it go as fast as possible.
The interior is almost as magnificent as the exterior, with it’s bright red leather seats and metal dash, with on it, more switch gears than you know what to do with. However the pierre de resistance, has to be the stunning ivory steering wheel and gearstick, utterly beautiful.
At the time the 300SL was about two to three times more expensive than the top sports cars of the day, and for this reason it was mainly reserved for the very rich and famous. Today it is no different and you would have to have £500,000 worth of lose change, but with only 1,400 built in the first place, they are hard to find.
Even today, no modern super car can compete with the style and cool factor of the Mercedes 300SL Gullwing.
