Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupé
A road-going sports car whose tall space frame turned an engineering problem into famous gullwing doors.
1954 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL W198 Gullwing at Woburn in 2011. · Charles01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 International
Research pending
A matching completed auction sale has not been verified for this exact year, body, trim, engine, transmission and market.
Joyride shows this gap instead of substituting an asking price, unsold bid or mismatched special vehicle.
More than a set of wheels.
Mercedes-Benz adapted ideas from its successful 300 SL racing car for a production coupé. U.S. importer Max Hoffman encouraged the company to build it. The road car entered production in August 1954 with direct fuel injection, a lightweight tubular frame and doors hinged in the roof because ordinary doors could not clear the high frame sides.
Look a little closer.
Only 1,400 Gullwing coupés were built, including 29 especially light cars with aluminium bodywork.
Photos show an example of the model or generation. The pictured vehicle’s year, equipment, or modifications can differ from the specification described here.
Why the doors fly upward
The steel-tube space frame was light and stiff, but its tubes rose high beside the seats. Full-size side doors would have cut through that structure, so the engineers made smaller openings and hinged the doors in the roof. The solution became the car’s signature.
Source: Mercedes-Benz Public Archive · W 198 overview ↗Racing ideas for the road
The production car kept the racer’s tubular-frame idea but gained direct petrol injection and 215 PS. Mercedes-Benz records a top speed as high as 260 km/h with the right final-drive ratio, putting it among the fastest production cars of its era.
Source: Mercedes-Benz Public Archive · 300 SL technical data ↗Where these facts come from
- Mercedes-Benz Public Archive · W 198 overview
- Mercedes-Benz Public Archive · 300 SL technical data
- Mercedes-Benz Public Archive · 1955–1956 competition history
Selected facts checked for this edition. Some source pages link to broader model families. Last reviewed September 29, 2026.