A derivative of the Mercedes-Benz W194 race car that debuted in 1952, the Mercedes 300 SL W198 “Gullwing” was a subdued version that was more suitable to a wealthy gentleman interested in the illusion of speed, if not the actual capability of it.
Except the 300 SL was more than a subdued sport car. Egged-on by North American luxury car importer Max Hoffman’s suggestion at a 1953 Daimler-Benz board of director’s meeting in Stuttgart, it was decided to build 1,000 copies of the 300 SL for the American market. That number grew. At the beginning of the run in 1954 and ending in 1957, around 1,400 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupes were built.
It’s not known who the original owner of 300 SL number 198.040-55-00048 was. Vance Hollingsworth of Roanoke, VA., was the second. According to Hollingsworth’s son-in-law, Tom Johnson, “he never bought anything new. He was a wheeler-dealer, owning a small used car lot, and you never knew what he’d drive home in,” Johnson said. One day it was 55-00048.
He’d use the 300 SL as his daily driver but that was until the day he showed up with a 1940s era Rolls-Royce. “He never seemed to have any money, but he died with a Rolls-Royce,” Johnson reminisced.
Al Gomez, a retired international attorney from Boca Raton, FL, is the current owner of Mercedes-Benz 300 SL number 55-00048. It was purchased by his father-in-law who passed away 22 years ago, leaving it to his wife. When she passed away 6 years later, it was passed on to Gomez’s wife, Martha.
Since 1979, most of its life has been spent in an air-conditioned warehouse. The father-in-law never registered the car, just taking it outside for weekly half hour drives and then putting it away again. It has never been used on roads other than that.
Gomez never drove the 300 SL, instead opting to sit in it once. He found the seating position “rather uncomfortable.” Still, it’s a unique vehicle. “There aren’t too many 1955 300 SLs that are in this type of condition,” said Palm Beach Classics owner Sydney Vallon, whose company is brokering a sale or restoration of the Mercedes.
Details Of The Gullwing
This particular SL is chassis # 198.040-55-00048. Officially, it is a model year 1955 vehicle. Consider this a model changeover car: While the car was completed in January 1955, both the engine and body were produced in 1954. Per the design of the W198, this car was based on a steel tube frame chassis, with a body comprised mostly of steel. Aluminum was used for the hood, doors, dashboard and trunk.
Power was provided from the M198 3.0-liter overhead-camshaft straight six-cylinder engine making 220 horsepower SAE. Although not equipped, 240 hp SAE was available by ordering the sport camshaft. Top speed was 161.557 mph (260 km/h), depending on the rear axle gear ratio.
It tipped the scale at 2,855 pounds with a full fuel tank.
Model number 55-00048 left the Mercedes-Benz factory in Sindelfingen on January 29, 1955. It’s painted in its original colors, known internally as DB 50. That’s a white body with Roser Red (1079) leather interior. It was never restored, although it appears at some point to have been repainted.
The vehicle was imported to the U.S. via the Daimler Benz sales organization at the time in New York. According to Michael Kunz at Mercedes-Benz Classic, 55-00048 was outfitted with equipment considered “somewhat standard for the model, although high-gloss paintwork and a leather interior were considered options.” Other equipment included sealed beam headlamps, instruments with English lettering, bumpers with overriders, a windshield washer system and the equivalent of a two-liter bottle of touch-up paint.
A Mix Of The Old… And Less Of The Old
Although booked as a 1955 model, there are some attributes of this earlier production car that have it “straddling the fence” between the 1954 and 1955 model years. Examples include a concave Mercedes star grille vs. the later flat star grille, squared profile bumper overriders and a smaller diameter exhaust outlet.
The wheel arches, or “eyebrows” as they are nicknamed, are of the bolt-on variety rather than the later leaded-type installations. A Treadle Vac brake booster is in place versus the later ATE version. The interior includes a mechanical “wind-up” clock. “These are some of the more noticeable attributes, but there were many detail changes over the production life of the 300 SL Coupe. Most are not noticeable to the general enthusiast but do make all the difference in a proper restoration,” said Kunz.
This 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupe, serial number 198.040-55-00048, is for sale at Palm Beach Classics in West Palm Beach, FL.
Commercials Cooperation Advertisements:
(1) IT Teacher IT Freelance
立刻註冊及報名電腦補習課程吧!
电子计算机 -教育 -IT 電腦班” ( IT電腦補習 ) 提供一個方便的电子计算机 教育平台, 為大家配對信息技术, 電腦 老師, IT freelance 和 programming expert. 讓大家方便地就能找到合適的電腦補習, 電腦班, 家教, 私人老師.
We are a education and information platform which you can find a IT private tutorial teacher or freelance.
Also we provide different information about information technology, Computer, programming, mobile, Android, apple, game, movie, anime, animation…
(2) ITSec
www.ITSeceu.uk
Secure Your Computers from Cyber Threats and mitigate risks with professional services to defend Hackers.
ITSec provide IT Security and Compliance Services, including IT Compliance Services, Risk Assessment, IT Audit, Security Assessment and Audit, ISO 27001 Consulting and Certification, GDPR Compliance Services, Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA), Penetration test, Ethical Hacking, Vulnerabilities scan, IT Consulting, Data Privacy Consulting, Data Protection Services, Information Security Consulting, Cyber Security Consulting, Network Security Audit, Security Awareness Training.
Contact us right away.
Email (Prefer using email to contact us):
SalesExecutive@ITSec.vip