This 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL is chassis 198.040.6500165 and one of 308 Gullwing coupes produced in 1956. The car is finished in its factory color combination of Graphite Gray (code DB190) over a Light Gray (DB955) leather interior. It retains its original fuel-injected 3.0L inline-six (No. 6500153), which is freshly rebuilt and has seen only break-in miles added since the beginning of this year. The car was originally ordered by George Sterner of York, Pennsylvania through Max Hoffman, and the complete ownership chain is known. The car has an all new leather interior, all new brake system, and has been extensively detailed and sorted. The steering wheel is a factory-option Nardi, and new belly pans from MB Classic were also recently fitted. The car has a powerful presence in one of the more understated original color combinations, and it is ready to start on the key and drive right away. We are excited to list our own 300SL as the very first car on the BaT Premium page, at no reserve and with the same $5,000 capped buyer fee as always on BaT.

Ownership Chain:

New to 1978 – George Sterner; York, Pennsylvania

1978 to 2013 – Dr. Falk & Son; New Kensington, Pennsylvania

2013 to Present – Bring a Trailer Inc.; San Francisco, California

The History:

This particular 300SL was originally special ordered new by Max Hoffmann/Mercedes Benz Distributors, Inc. New York, New York in spring 1956 on behalf of client George Sterner of York, Pennsylvania. The Sterner family enjoyed this 300SL over the next 22 years before agreeing to sell it in 1978 to a surgeon outside of Pittsburgh, Dr. Edward C. Falk and his young son, Richard. The car is said to have had around 10,000 miles at that time.

The Falk family was from New Kensington, Pennsylvania. After serving in the Army during World War II, the elder Dr. Falk opened his practice in 1949 and also produced surgical training films. Care of the 300SL passed to the younger Dr. Falk in 1998. In February of 2013, after 95 years of dedicated and faithful service to his family, his community, and to his nation, Dr. Edward Falk passed away. The settling of the Falk family estate saw the car made available for sale. Bring a Trailer Inc. purchased the car in late 2013.

Current Ownership:

For the first two years after purchase in 2013, the car saw careful but minimal use. It played a key role in a wedding of a good friend and saw some coastal pleasure driving but was mainly stored under a cover in the BaT workshop.

In 2016, it was decided that the brittle and cracking original leather interior and much of the suspension needed attention, so it was taken to a local specialist. That visit and those repairs revealed many more items that we wanted to set right on the car (undercarriage cleaning, brakes, engine, cosmetics, etc.), all of which took nearly two years to complete. Those were finished just before the holidays of 2018, and they are outlined below.

The interior was restored with new leather upholstery on the seats, dash, and side panels. It is a lovely place to sit. The dash needed a good cleaning, so it was removed and disassembled for polishing and cleaning. The headliner, door upholstery, and visors are also new and matching. The Nardi wood wheel works well with the color combination and features the pivoting collar for easier driver entry/exit.

The car was delivered to Raffi N. at the Pit Stop in Brisbane, California. The shop prepares multiple cars for Pebble Beach every year, and there are often 300SLs in for servicing. This example received the following:

Complete engine rebuild to factory specifications with honed cylinders, new pistons, new valves, valve guides, bearings, timing chains

Rebuilt fuel-injection pump and injectors (nine months with Gus at Pacific Fuel Injection in Redwood City, California)

Re-cored original radiator and oil cooler

New thermostats for engine and injection system

New bearings in cooling fan

All new flexible fuel lines

All new flexible oil lines

Twin electric fuel pumps and bypassed but intact factory mechanical fuel pump

Fuel tank cleaned

New battery

New Pirelli tires

Newer stainless-steel exhaust system was retained

Transmission was inspected and received new front bearing, input and output seals, new gaskets, and a rebuilt shifter mechanism

Extensive photos of the process are included in the gallery.

The front and rear brakes were rebuilt with new linings, refurbished drums, rebuilt master cylinder, rebuilt wheel cylinders all around, and a new brake booster. As originally planned, the front and rear suspension was rebuilt and four new shocks were added.

The car was purchased with the promise that the belly pans were included, but when it arrived it did not have them and the sellers never lived up to their promises to deliver them. New pans were ordered from Mercedes-Benz Classic Center and have now been fitted to the car. Their being off during the initial inspection revealed that years ago the Pennsylvania owners had heavily coated the underside of the car with cosmoline and another heavy oil, likely to prevent rust. The great news is that the car was free of rust, but the bad news is that when it was decided to remove all the heavy protectant it took over three weeks of labor and several noxious solvents. The team at the Pit Stop say that over 10 pounds of material was stripped from the underside of the chassis, body, drivetrain, and fender wells. The results were worth the effort.

After experiencing the entire process, it is very pleasing to open the hood and see the finished product, as shown below.

The body features a repaint in the factory color that is believed to be from the 1980s. A new Mercedes Classic windshield was installed, and all windows were given new rubber surrounds after being removed for an extensive detailing of the paintwork.

The factory tools are included, and they reside in the trunk. All four road wheels and the spare wheel wear new Pirelli tires. The factory-option cold-weather radiator shroud remains intact, and its under-dash push/pull controls are removed but included in a box.

Below is a video of the underside, and still photos of the underside are included in the gallery.

Why are we selling? And why do we have this thing in the first place? Fair questions, both. The obvious icon status of this car aside, we have always loved the model and our favorite production Gullwing is the #417 car in this same Graphite Gray color that John Fitch drove to 5th place overall and 1st in class at the 1955 Mille Miglia (pictured below). The factory owns that one so nobody else ever will, and when the opportunity arose to get our hands on this similar car, we found a way to make it happen. We’ve had a few drives that will be as close to the Fitch drive as we’ll ever get, and we are thankful for that chance. Buying this at the peak a few years back and discovering it had needs both means that this won’t be the best financial decision of our lives, but it will be a good story and memory. And given the freshness of the car right now and being able to use it to help launch BaT Premium listings, we think that the time is right for us to move it to the next owner. Maybe someday we’ll be able to get our hands on another.

Here is a great video we had put together that features the sights and sounds of the car!

The car on offer is available for inspection within a 15 minute ride from San Francisco International Airport.

This car is being sold by Bring a Trailer Inc., a licensed, bonded, and insured California dealer. Sales tax and registration fees are due upon transfer for California buyers. We think that charging buyers the allowable $85 documentation fee is lame, so we won’t be doing that. Mileage may be added during the course of the listing.