The 300 SL Roadster is one of the most coveted and valuable classics from Mercedes-Benz today. It had its premiere 60 years ago at the Geneva Motor Show. In March 1957, the open two-seater with the series designation W 198 replaced the successful 300 SL “Gullwing” coupe with gullwing doors, which had been built since 1954. For fans of legendary sports cars, it is considered the fastest and most glamorous supercar of the late 1950s.

The two-seater Mercedes was advertised in Hollywood and on New York’s Fifth Avenue as “The World’s finest combination of quality and high performance!” and the specialist media confirmed this smug assessment by Mercedes importer Max Hoffman. The magazine “Motor Revue” wrote about the new sports car: “In terms of engine and handling, the 300 SL Roadster is a big hit.” Not only the trade press, but also media such as the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit” reported on the premiere of the “300 SL Roadster from Mercedes-Benz with a number of significant improvements”. In 1999, the 300 SL was voted “Sports Car of the Century” by a jury of experts.

Numerous celebrities, such as James Dean’s film partner Natalie Wood, Romy Schneider, Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Aga Kan and the Shah of Persia, could not resist the charm of the 300 SL. Added to this are the many SL Roadsters that have had their own film careers under cinema directors such as Robert Redford, Carol Reed, Francis Ford Coppola, Tim Burton and Clint Eastwood.

The 300 SL not only knew how to impress visually, but also in terms of sport. In 1952, in the Stuttgart brand’s first motorsport season after the end of the Second World War, he achieved great success. Paul O’Shea, who had already won the category D championship with the “Gullwing” in 1955 and 1956, won the title with the 300 SLS for the third time in a row. In the early 1960s, Eberhard Mahle and Gunther Philipp competed in sports car races with 300 SL Roadsters.

On February 8, 1963, the last of 1,858 300 SL Roadsters built left the assembly line at the Sindelfingen plant. Today, the 300 SL Roadster is one of the most coveted and valuable Mercedes-Benz vehicles.