---
title: "Once-Odd Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Now a Concours Contender After 100-Point Restoration"
description: "An unorthodox repair job gave this Gullwing a weird look. Now, it's ready for the lawn at Pebble Beach."
date: "2020-11-13"
modified: "2020-11-13"
authors:
  - name: "Máté Petrány"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/mate-petrany"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/37629/once-odd-mercedes-benz-300sl-gullwing-now-a-concours-contender-after-100-point-restoration"
categories:
  - "Mercedes-Benz News"
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
tags:
  - "1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL"
  - "Mercedes-Benz"
  - "Mercedes-Benz 300SL"
---

# Once-Odd Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Now a Concours Contender After 100-Point Restoration

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2020/11/8db85bcf-281f-42a4-9b09-5ab4ca53cac4.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Before their average market value started circling around the $1.2 million mark, Mercedes-Benz 300SL "Gullwings" were just ordinary classic sports cars. They were used, maintained to a certain standard and sometimes crashed, only to then get fixed again using whatever parts the owner or a trusted mechanic could source. It's safe to say that isn't the case now, and this beautiful Horizon Blue example is proof of that having gone through an astonishing 100-point restoration.

When it comes to this particular 1957 300SL coupé finished in the standard silver grey, the files reveal an early history in France, followed by a boat ride across the water to the United Kingdom in 1981. What the paperwork fails to mention is who put the sealed-beam headlights and taillights from a 300SL Roadster on this previously crash-damaged Mercedes.

Now owned by a collector who's also a Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance judge, this fuel-injected, [tubular frame design icon](<https://www.thedrive.com/vintage/2889/the-maestro-of-mercedes-gullwings>) went through a rigorous restoration courtesy of [vintage car specialist Thornley Kelham](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/32325/mussolini-owned-1930-alfa-romeo-6c-unearthed-headed-for-full-restoration>), makers of the limited edition[ Lancia Aurelia B20GT "Outlaws."](<https://www.fuorilegge.co.uk/>) The Pebble judge wanted his 300SL to be "perfect, period-correct, and finished in anything but silver." Thornley Kelham adds that while sourcing a large number of original parts that cost more than six figures on their own, the client also wished to do without the bumpers.

![message-editor%2F1605285479953-8db85bcf-281f-42a4-9b09-5ab4ca53cac4.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1605285479953-8db85bcf-281f-42a4-9b09-5ab4ca53cac4.jpg>)
*Thornley Kelham*

![message-editor%2F1605284995274-69e0ece3-2002-40c0-b3f4-a784edabb09b.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1605284995274-69e0ece3-2002-40c0-b3f4-a784edabb09b.jpg>)
*Thornley Kelham*

![message-editor%2F1605284961467-0bed2928-c1b2-4c24-b70c-1ad382993abd.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1605284961467-0bed2928-c1b2-4c24-b70c-1ad382993abd.jpg>)
*Thornley Kelham*

![message-editor%2F1605285382680-bd10a133-bf0e-4e82-a4fb-857cea8eae6d1.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1605285382680-bd10a133-bf0e-4e82-a4fb-857cea8eae6d1.jpg>)
*Thornley Kelham*

![message-editor%2F1605291977873-1-lf3-67161.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1605291977873-1-lf3-67161.jpg>)
**Thornley Kelham**

![message-editor%2F1605291986347-message-editor\_1605285426486-e3cf07b2-adbd-4500-92bc-2c5c3e8c5e93.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1605291986347-message-editor_1605285426486-e3cf07b2-adbd-4500-92bc-2c5c3e8c5e93.jpg>)
*Thornley Kelham*

![message-editor%2F1605292002885-message-editor\_1605285439516-fd467fb3-4a46-4639-80e6-aca52df334df.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1605292002885-message-editor_1605285439516-fd467fb3-4a46-4639-80e6-aca52df334df.jpg>)
*Thornley Kelham*

With the 300SL coupé being not only a car destined for America but also a rather impractical racing prototype turned into a road car, sales started to decline after 1955. Looking at the demands of California, Mercedes came up with a Roadster version for the 1957 Geneva Motor Show. This new model was 276 pounds heavier than the hardtop, yet also more powerful given its 240-hp rating. The engineers also changed the chassis to grant more luggage space, as well as a lower sill for easier entry.

Two years ago, the fifth 1957 300SL Roadster sold for [$1,512,500 at Bonham's Scottsdale](<https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/24452/lot/30/?category=results&length=90&page=1>) event, partly due to also being the first Roadster exported to the United States. While that car left Germany with a Fire Engine Red exterior, today, it wears a few layers of Anthracite Glasurit instead.

The coupé's last year was 1957, during which only 70 were sold. This means that this now-restored 300 SL is one of the rarest steel-bodied examples and a car that used to be an oddball with its Roadster headlights, all the way until it became a de-bumpered Concours d’Elegance contender showing the equally period-correct shade of *Horizon Blue* over a blue plaid non-leather interior.

Apparently, finding the interior lights for these on the second-hand market is a real pain in the butt.

![message-editor%2F1605285729869-lf6\_5609.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1605285729869-lf6_5609.jpg>)
*Thornley Kelham*

![message-editor%2F1605285748307-lf6\_5652.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1605285748307-lf6_5652.jpg>)
*Thornley Kelham*

![message-editor%2F1605285759571-lf6\_5817.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1605285759571-lf6_5817.jpg>)
*Thornley Kelham*

![message-editor%2F1605285773265-lf6\_5868.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1605285773265-lf6_5868.jpg>)
*Thornley Kelham*

![message-editor%2F1605285790203-lf6\_5973.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1605285790203-lf6_5973.jpg>)
*Thornley Kelham*

![message-editor%2F1605285805507-lf6\_6112.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1605285805507-lf6_6112.jpg>)
*Thornley Kelham*

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## Author
As a fan of old cars, new cars, trains, planes, buses, and you-name-it, Máté can sometimes be seen driving an Autobianchi around Budapest, much to the amusement of the children, mostly. When not time-traveling, he continues to report from the future to his American colleagues, often talking about Lotus, Ozzy Osbourne, or both.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/mpetrany>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/petrany>)