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Calgary Owner Auctions Rare 1956 Mercedes 300SL for Charity With No Reserve
A collectible 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing is being auctioned with no reserve price, and the proceeds will go to charitable foundations in Alberta.
By Charlotte Redford · 4 min read
A 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing, one of about 1,400 coupes built during the model's three years of production, is being offered at no reserve, with the winning bid to be donated to charity. The car is being sold on behalf of its owner in Calgary, Alberta, through a Bring a Trailer Local Partner. The winning bid, including the buyer's fee, will go to the Trellis Society and the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation.
The car was completed in January 1956 and delivered to Hamburg, Germany, as dealership inventory or for demonstration use. A month later, chassis 5500869 returned to the factory for the fitting of radio equipment and a windshield washer before being shipped to Montevideo, Uruguay. It is said to have been shown at the International Automobile Show of Montevideo, after which it was delivered to its first private owner, a member of Uruguay's Terra family. That owner is said to have kept it until 1973, when it was sold to a Uruguayan collector and vintage racing driver.
Over the following decades the car went through a long refurbishment. According to the listing, the 3.0-litre M198 inline-six was overhauled to NSL specification, 15-inch Rudge wheels were added, the rear axle was changed to a 3.64:1 ratio, the bumpers were removed, the colour was changed to silver, and a mahogany and aluminium steering wheel was installed. The car was imported to the United States in 2002 and bought in 2005 by marque specialists Rudi & Company, which repainted it in silver, applied blue decals in the style of a period factory team livery, and retrimmed the interior in blue vinyl and plaid cloth. It was purchased in 2008 by the current owner, who has since driven it in events including the Drive of Champions, which benefits the Calgary Police Youth Foundation.
The 300SL's development was prompted by US importer Max Hoffman, who suggested that Mercedes-Benz build a sports car for the American market. The model took several design cues from the company's W194 sports racers, including upward-opening doors required by its high-sided lightweight tubular space frame. The production car was introduced at the 1954 International Motor Sports Show in New York and used steel bodywork with aluminium panels for the bonnet, boot lid, door skins, rocker panels and floorboards. This example was originally finished in light blue metallic and was repainted silver during the 1970s refurbishment, when its bumpers were removed.
Mechanically, the car uses a Bosch direct fuel injection system, dry-sump lubrication, a four-speed manual gearbox, servo-assisted hydraulic drum brakes and independent four-wheel suspension with a rear swing axle. The listing says the engine was overhauled to NSL specification during the 1970s work and that Mercedes-Benz Classic Center in California carried out valve adjustments, thermostat, distributor, wiring and battery work between 2023 and 2024. The car is offered with copies of its factory data cards, invoices from current ownership, a matching two-piece luggage set and Alberta registration.
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