The frame dictated the doors
A 50 kg tubular frame made ordinary doors impossible, so the hinges went into the roof. Beneath it sat the first direct-injected series-production four-stroke passenger-car engine, with 215 PS and gearing for 260 km/h.
Market value · road
$1.5M–$1.9M
Typical $1.6M · 73 sales · +49% vs ’19–’20
Market value · road
$1.5M–$1.9M
Typical $1.6M · 73 sales · +49% vs ’19–’20
Market & Price
A terminal for one car: the model curve over the documented record, the benchmarks it is measured against, and the instruments that read it.
Records: 1956 300 SL Alloy Gullwing · chassis 5500872 — $9,355,000 · RM Sotheby's · The Rudi Klein Collection · 2024; 134 documented road sales on file · 2013–2026. estimate band $1.5M–$1.9M · good road cars.
Compound annual growth
| Window | This car* | S&P 500 | Gold |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | +1.1% | +18.8% | +21.9% |
| 5Y | +3.0% | +11.4% | +17.6% |
| 10Y | +2.1% | +13.3% | +11.8% |
*Modeled price CAGR · S&P is a price index, no dividends
Deepest drawdown · model window
Forecast ladder · model quantiles
| Horizon | P10 | P50 | P90 |
|---|---|---|---|
| +6M | $1.3M | $1.6M | $2.0M |
| +12M | $1.3M | $1.7M | $2.2M |
| +24M | $1.2M | $1.7M | $2.5M |
Median path with the 10th and 90th percentile · not investment advice
134 of 134 recorded sales · shown in USD · recorded currency in each record
A standard Gullwing has a liquid public record by top-tier collector-car standards. The spread narrows only after the data card, numbered components, restoration invoices and body material are established.
Floor
$1.5M
Typical
$1.6M
Ceiling
$1.9M
Estimate band for good road cars. 73 documented sales since 2019 plotted below.
Band and axis shown in USD. Sale positions use indicative fixed-rate conversion to USD; sale readouts retain recorded currencies. Standard steel-bodied 300 SL Gullwings in USD; factory alloy cars excluded.
Road record
$9,355,000
1956 300 SL Alloy Gullwing · chassis 5500872
RM Sotheby's · The Rudi Klein Collection · 2024
Instrument calibration for this file is in progress — the terminal above reads the documented record directly.
Amounts are auction-house reported sold prices and normally include buyer's premium. No currency conversion has been applied.
Overview
The W 194 competition car won at Le Mans and the Carrera Panamericana in 1952. New York importer Max Hoffman then pressed Daimler-Benz to make a road version for the American market. The board approved development in September 1953; the W 198 appeared at New York's International Motor Sports Show in February 1954, before its German presentation.
Chief stylist Friedrich Geiger refined the W 194 body around the production package. Mechanical direct injection lifted the road engine to 215 PS, while the 50 kg tubular frame retained the height that forced the roof-hinged doors.
Production ran from August 1954 to May 1957. Mercedes made 1'400 coupés: 1'370 with steel bodies, 29 light-alloy cars and one glassfibre-reinforced plastic test vehicle. In its first competition season the production W 198 took the first three places in its class at the 1955 Mille Miglia.
Reference
The records
0kg
Bare tubular frame
factory archive figure
0
Alloy-bodied cars
built in 1955 and 1956
$0
2024 alloy sale
RM Sotheby's · chassis 5500872
HICON BID
A HICON Bid is a confidential expression of buying interest on the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupé "Gullwing" file — never public, never shown to other members. It is not a binding purchase, and HICONIUM holds no funds.
HICON Bids are a member instrument. Sign in to place one.
The vault
You keep one? The record starts in your garage — identity, papers, photography, and the market evidence this file already carries, bound to your chassis.
The cars
Documented individual cars — chassis, colour, ownership and sale history. Open one for its full provenance. Public records only; members see the complete registry.
75 documented · public records
24 of 75 shown
The hands
The people whose work shaped the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupé "Gullwing".
Chief stylist
Developed the W 198 production body from the W 194 racing car while retaining the high-sided space frame that required roof-hinged doors.
US importer and product instigator
Pressed the Daimler-Benz board in September 1953 to turn the successful W 194 competition car into a road model for his American clients.
