Open, lower, better settled
The Roadster kept the direct-injected six but lowered the space frame for ordinary doors. A low-pivot rear axle with a compensating spring settled the chassis; disc brakes arrived in 1961 and an alloy engine block in 1962.
Market value · road
$1.0M–$1.6M
Typical $1.2M · 109 sales · +43% vs ’19–’20
Market value · road
$1.0M–$1.6M
Typical $1.2M · 109 sales · +43% 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: 1957 Rudge-wheel 300 SL Roadster · chassis 7500364 — $2,892,500 · RM Sotheby's Monterey · 2024; 203 documented road sales on file · 2013–2026. estimate band $1.0M–$1.6M · good road cars.
Compound annual growth
| Window | This car* | S&P 500 | Gold |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | +34.8% | +18.8% | +21.9% |
| 5Y | -5.3% | +11.4% | +17.6% |
| 10Y | +1.6% | +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 | $994K | $1.2M | $1.5M |
| +12M | $916K | $1.2M | $1.6M |
| +24M | $808K | $1.2M | $1.7M |
Median path with the 10th and 90th percentile · not investment advice
205 of 205 recorded sales · shown in USD · recorded currency in each record
The public market is active enough to separate ordinary restored cars from preservation examples and scarce factory specifications. Data-card conformity, hardtop completeness and the 1961 and 1962 production changes should be recorded before choosing comparables.
Floor
$1.0M
Typical
$1.2M
Ceiling
$1.6M
Estimate band for good road cars. 109 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 300 SL Roadsters in USD; exceptional Rudge-wheel cars are shown in the ledger but excluded from the band.
Road record
$2,892,500
1957 Rudge-wheel 300 SL Roadster · chassis 7500364
RM Sotheby's Monterey · 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
Max Hoffman had asked Daimler-Benz for an open 300 SL from the start. Mercedes presented the Roadster at Geneva in March 1957 and began standard production in May, as Gullwing production ended.
The frame was not simply cut. Its side sections were lowered and revised, allowing conventional doors, and the rear suspension changed to a low-pivot single-joint swing axle with a compensating spring. The engine remained the direct-injected 2'996 cc M 198 and the gearbox remained a four-speed manual.
Mercedes added an optional removable hardtop in October 1958, four-wheel disc brakes in March 1961 and a light-alloy engine block in March 1962. Production ended in February 1963 after 1'858 Roadsters, including cars supplied with the factory hardtop.
Reference
The records
0
Roadsters built
factory count, including hardtop-equipped cars
0
Four-wheel discs
from March production
0
Alloy engine block
M 198 III from March
HICON BID
A HICON Bid is a confidential expression of buying interest on the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster 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.
84 documented · public records
24 of 84 shown
The hands
The people whose work shaped the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster.
US importer and product instigator
Urged Daimler-Benz to add an open version of the 300 SL, judging the American market for a roadster stronger than for the Coupé alone.
