The great icon from Mercedes-Benz is, and will always be, the 300 SL. And so, it comes as no surprise that the most expensive cars in this auction are 300 SLs. The silver 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL ‘Gullwing’ was one of the first examples delivered to France — after which, it went on an intercontinental journey, being shipped by its owners to Mexico City and Martinique before returning to France. It is estimated between 900,000 and 1.3 million euros. The Gullwing’s counterpart in the auction is an ivory-coloured 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster with a red interior, estimated between 800,000 and one million euros.
The six-door Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman, of which only 428 were built, seems to be a must-have from the sale. This example was the limousine of the Congolese embassy in Cologne in the late 1960s, and it’s debatable whether the two air conditioning systems in front and rear were actually needed in cool West Germany. But, with 300,000 euros already spent on a restoration, the estimated price of 400,000 to 500,000 euros seems almost favourable. If that doesn’t suit your fancy, there’s also the beautiful 1972 dark blue example with a beige-coloured suede interior. And although Mireille Mathieu’s manager, Johnny Stark, once drove Miss Mathieu to the Moulin Rouge in Paris in this very car, the estimate has remained within a rather civilian range of 60,000–90,000.
Two modern classics from Sindelfingen are also at the centre of attention — the racing version of a Mercedes-Benz 190 E from 1985, which was once exercised by Dany Snobeck’s French racing team, is expected to provide its new owner with an impressive 60,000 to 100,000-euros worth of enjoyable racetrack hours. And the Mercedes-Benz 190 E Evo II, which, since its delivery in the summer of 1990, has not yet covered 40,000 kilometres, is the perfect competition for the well-stocked collection of modern sports car icons also available. Artcurial has estimated the 190 between 170,000 and 190,000 euros. This is, of course, only a small selection of the cars on offer — the entire catalogue of Artcurial’s Mercedes-Benz auction, held on 15 October in Paris, can be found in the Classic Driver Market.
