[GOLFFRR]

I moved to my new house about a year ago. My neighbor is a pretty old guy who kind of keeps to himself. I noticed he rarely ever leaves and when he does a car service pics him up and or caregivers. He has a few decently nice cars in his garage, a SL Benz and an older S series.

Anyways yesterday he had a gullwing Benz delivered to his house and wow was this car amazing. The crazy story however had me blown away.

So in the 50's he had a Benz roaster (I know right) and his boss had a gullwing. His boss started a family so he wanted to get rid of the gullwing. My neighbor always loved that car so he sold his roadster and bought the gullwing from his boss for $4300!!! He has owned it ever since. He has another house in Santa Barbara where we live that he just sold so he was sending some of the items back to his current house which is next to me. So it was the first time for me seeing it and knowing he even had it. Anyways super cool car, I looked it up on line and was shocked to see how valuable they are. the car is mint also. He offered to let me drive it and I of course passed, would not want to deal with any sort of potential issues popping up lol.

[3798j]

Beautiful 300SL...with a great back story. Very Cool.

[Oldgixxer]

WOW! Amazing car,and your neighbor sounds cool as hell. I'd pass on driving it as well for obvious reasons,but did you at least ride shotgun to see how it feels going down the road in such an iconic vehicle???

[P1]

Still, without a shadow of a doubt, the most beautiful car ever produced.

Fun fact: when I was a young lad, this was the first 1:18 scale model car my parents bought me. Still have it!

[GOLFFRR]

Originally Posted by Oldgixxer

WOW! Amazing car,and your neighbor sounds cool as hell. I'd pass on driving it as well for obvious reasons,but did you at least ride shotgun to see how it feels going down the road in such an iconic vehicle???

I might do that, I am pretty impressed he can even get into it since there is a huge lip to get in when the doors are up and open and he is no joke prob in his 80s if I had to guess.

Originally Posted by P1

Still, without a shadow of a doubt, the most beautiful car ever produced.

Fun fact: when I was a young lad, this was the first 1:18 scale model car my parents bought me. Still have it!

no way? that's pretty cool that you still have it. when the doors are up its such a cool look car and the shape is still eye catching. ITs loud also

[///M Power-Belgium]

The Alloy Gullwing is the second most-valuable Mercedes-Benz in the Hagerty Price Guide behind the prewar 540K. While a steel-bodied 1955 300SL carries a #2 (Excellent) value of $1.4 million, an alloy-bodied version in equivalent condition has an average value of $6.7 million !

#TheBestInvestmentEver !

[gblansten]

Great thread! Cool car!

[Oldgixxer]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

The Alloy Gullwing is the second most-valuable Mercedes-Benz in the Hagerty Price Guide behind the prewar 540K. While a steel-bodied 1955 300SL carries a #2 (Excellent) value of $1.4 million, an alloy-bodied version in equivalent condition has an average value of $6.7 million !

#TheBestInvestmentEver !

Always impressed by the car-knowledge members of this forum have,thanks for that info I never knew

[Efthreeoh]

The 300 SL sold for around $6,800 new in the mid 1950's ($78K in 2023). Buying it at $4,300 probably was a normal price transaction among wealthy Californians back then. Turned out great for your neighbor.

Your neighbor has to be in his 90's unless he was quite wealthy in his early 20's. He should cash out on it at this point if he needs the money. Lol.

[GOLFFRR]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

The 300 SL sold for around $6,800 new in the mid 1950's ($78K in 2023). Buying it at $4,300 probably was a normal price transaction among wealthy Californians back then. Turned out great for your neighbor.

Your neighbor has to be in his 90's unless he was quite wealthy in his early 20's. He should cash out on it at this point if he needs the money. Lol.

yea he scored, I just think its so cool that he has had it all this time and also was impressed how pristine it was.

[GOLFFRR]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

The Alloy Gullwing is the second most-valuable Mercedes-Benz in the Hagerty Price Guide behind the prewar 540K. While a steel-bodied 1955 300SL carries a #2 (Excellent) value of $1.4 million, an alloy-bodied version in equivalent condition has an average value of $6.7 million !

#TheBestInvestmentEver !

yea I saw that on google, that was what I read as well. I don't know if its steel or alloy I would imagine its the steel one otherwise that would be insane for that to be worth almost 7 mill

what's funny is he has it parked in his smaller garage and its as you can see stacked with crap on both sides. The bigger garage he just has the SL and that older S. I feel like telling him why don't you park the rare car in an area that it can breathe lol

[Car-Addicted]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

The Alloy Gullwing is the second most-valuable Mercedes-Benz in the Hagerty Price Guide behind the prewar 540K. #TheBestInvestmentEver !

This brings back personal nightmares. I co owned an independent dealership in the 70's and I attended a liquidation auction of a company that dealt in collector cars. My partner and I were bidding on a 55 Mercedes Gullwing in driver condition. Everything was there and the car was a perfect candidate for a restoration. We bid it to $40,000 and had to walk away as it was everything we had in cash, it sold for $42,000.00.

I still get cold sweats about that car and many others that got a way. I'm also haunted by a Lamborghini Miura S that passed through my fingertips. Excuse me while I go get the Scotch bottle.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by Car-Addicted

This brings back personal nightmares. I co owned an independent dealership in the 70's and I attended a liquidation auction of a company that dealt in collector cars. My partner and I were bidding on a 55 Mercedes Gullwing in driver condition. Everything was there and the car was a perfect candidate for a restoration. We bid it to $40,000 and had to walk away as it was everything we had in cash, it sold for $42,000.00.

I still get cold sweats about that car and many others that got a way. I'm also haunted by a Lamborghini Miura S that passed through my fingertips. Excuse me while I go get the Scotch bottle.

Well . I see , unfortunately we are not fortune tellers ..Too bad my friend !
But ..Your Scotch sounds not bad and I'll say Cheers mate to forget !

[P1]

Originally Posted by Car-Addicted

This brings back personal nightmares. I co owned an independent dealership in the 70's and I attended a liquidation auction of a company that dealt in collector cars. My partner and I were bidding on a 55 Mercedes Gullwing in driver condition. Everything was there and the car was a perfect candidate for a restoration. We bid it to $40,000 and had to walk away as it was everything we had in cash, it sold for $42,000.00.

I still get cold sweats about that car and many others that got a way. I'm also haunted by a Lamborghini Miura S that passed through my fingertips. Excuse me while I go get the Scotch bottle.

Two grand away from owning a 55 Gullwing, wow!

[jimcarrey]

Cool car. I was impressed how pristine it was.

[GOLFFRR]

Originally Posted by Car-Addicted

This brings back personal nightmares. I co owned an independent dealership in the 70's and I attended a liquidation auction of a company that dealt in collector cars. My partner and I were bidding on a 55 Mercedes Gullwing in driver condition. Everything was there and the car was a perfect candidate for a restoration. We bid it to $40,000 and had to walk away as it was everything we had in cash, it sold for $42,000.00.

I still get cold sweats about that car and many others that got a way. I'm also haunted by a Lamborghini Miura S that passed through my fingertips. Excuse me while I go get the Scotch bottle.

WOW... brutal