The 300 SL gullwing alloy is the most advanced technology of the brand. One of them was sold for $ 4,62M including premium by Gooding on 20-21 January 2012. However, the early wear of its aluminum based structure did not make it the best candidate for endurance racing.
For this reason, the engineers from the Sportabteilung department of Mercedes-Benz preferred the usual steel based technology for preparing four W198 300 SL gullwing cars for competition.
One of these four cars was sold after thirteen months to a friend of Stirling Moss. Driven by Moss with Houel as navigator, it finished second in the 1956 Tour de France after a very close contest against the Ferrari 250 GT of Portago and Nelson.
The winning Ferrari was sold for $ 13,2M including premium by RM Sotheby's on 15 August 2015. The valiant Mercedes-Benz with which Moss had challenged the domination of Portago is estimated $ 5M for sale by RM Sotheby's in New York on December 10, lot 223.
I invite you to watch the video shared by the auction house.
unsold