AUTONEWS

Absolute rarity: rare Mercedes 300 SL found in Portugal after 30 years

An extremely rare Mercedes 300 SL Coupé, one of only 1,400 ever produced, has been discovered in Portugal after 30 years of dormancy. The legendary car with its distinctive gullwing doors was found in parts in a garage on a plantation, where it was awaiting a restoration that never began.

Although the discoveries of forgotten automotive classics are not uncommon, this one stands out with its story. The car was not just covered in dust, but was completely disassembled - the body on one side, the chassis on the other, and boxes of parts all around, writes the Autonews.

The father of the current owner once bought the car with the intention of restoring it, but the plan never came to fruition, probably due to the complexity and high costs of the project. Thus, the dream of restoration turned into a thirty-year dormancy.

Setting itself apart from the usual barn finds due to its rarity and condition, this extraordinary discovery revealed a completely disassembled example, a testament to a restoration project interrupted by time. The complex salvage process now signals the beginning of the rebirth of a true icon of automotive engineering, whose preserved components are finally returning to the light of day.

The documentary investigation and the survey of the history of this chassis were imbued with contours of high historical interest, as the original records and chronology of its owners in the country were recovered. The data gathered suggest a rich history in Portuguese territory, even raising the strong possibility of links with the sporting and competition past of the time. Each technical detail and cataloged part reflects decades of stagnation of a model that awaited the opportunity to see its mechanical integrity restored.

After the completion of the sorting and packaging work in Lisbon, the chassis and engine of the emblematic "Gullwing" were transported to Germany, where the project will continue under the most rigorous international restoration standards.

This historic find in Portugal is considered one of the most significant events of the year in the world of classic cars, promising to return to circulation and official records one of the most charismatic and valuable models in Mercedes-Benz history.

Now the legendary Mercedes should be back on the road. The task was entrusted to HK-Engineering from Poling in Bavaria, a company that specializes in the 300 SL. Their team traveled to Portugal to assess the condition of the car and prepare it for transport.

In a discreet warehouse, somewhere on a cork-producing property near Lisbon, one of the most iconic cars in history lay hidden for about three decades: a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing.

Disassembled and practically forgotten by time, the German sports car awaited a second chance, tucked away among furniture and boxes in a lost warehouse in the middle of a plot of land.

That opportunity has now arisen. HK-Engineering, a German company specializing in the restoration of 300 SL Gullwings, received an unexpected contact from the grandson of the original owner to rescue this car.

The rescue process of this example with a rare configuration—dark blue leather interior, silver paint, and center-lock wheels—was documented on video, where we learn a little more about its history. We discovered that this example has always been linked to the same family since it was bought new, and there are a number of documents that attest to its trajectory.

A project interrupted by time...According to the grandson of the first owner, after a few years of use, his father decided to begin a complete restoration of the 300 SL, with the goal of returning the Gullwing to the exact state he remembered it in during his childhood.

They started by completely disassembling the car, but the size of the project, the costs involved, and the time required to complete it ultimately dictated the interruption of the process.

The result was a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL with the body separated from the chassis and dozens of components scattered across warehouses. And so it remained for about 30 years waiting for a restoration that was long overdue.