Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing With All Sport Options For Sale

The auction house Artcurial will offer for sale, at the auction to be held on January 27, 2026, in Paris, a very rare Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing (W198) fitted with all the sport options available at the time. The estimated sale price is between 2 and 5 million euros.
 

Mercedes built 1,400 examples of the Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing, of which 29 had aluminum bodywork. Only 106 of these were delivered in Graphite Grey (code DB190), and very few of them were equipped with all the sport options available at the time.
 
Accordingly, the Graphite Grey Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing to be sold at the Artcurial auction on January 27 in Paris was factory-equipped with the NSL engine, Rudge wheels, and sport springs and shock absorbers.
 
Only 250 examples out of the total production of 1,400 Mercedes 300 SL Gullwings were fitted with the NSL engine, which developed 20 PS more than the standard model’s 215 PS. Of these 250 cars, only 170 were delivered from the factory with Rudge wheels. Fewer than 100 examples had all the sport options, including sport springs and shock absorbers.
 
Thus, in addition to the 29 aluminum-bodied examples with all sport options, there were only around 60 cars with the same specification, and this example is one of them.
 
The Graphite Grey car features an interior trimmed in natural leather (Naturfarbe 1068). The list of options, as shown in the factory specification, is as follows:
– NSL engine with special parts for performance driving SA 10013
– Shock absorbers and springs for performance driving SA 10009/1
– Centre-lock Rudge disc wheels SA 935-198
– Two-piece fitted leather luggage set 1068 SA
– Lengthened steering column SA 944-198
– Rear axle ratio 3.42:1
– Sealed-beam headlamps
– SA 100%
– Without separate seats
– Rear fog lamp BA 55105
– Supplied with rust protection and soundproofing materials
 

This example is one of only 30 Mercedes 300 SL Gullwings delivered new to France, and its history is fascinating.
 
It was ordered by the Mercedes-Benz importer in Paris, the Royal-Élysées garage, run by Charles Delcroix, for a special client, Claude Foussier.
 
Claude Foussier, born in Paris on April 19, 1925, was an outstanding industrialist and an exceptional sportsman. At the time, he lived in the prestigious luxury apartment buildings designed by Jean Walter in 1931 at Porte de la Muette, at 2 Boulevard Suchet in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. Claude Foussier had a remarkable professional career: he was a director at Pernod-Ricard, CEO of the Société Parisienne de Boissons Gazeuses (SPBG), and the European importer of Coca-Cola.
 
Foussier was also a well-known competitive shooter, competing at the highest level in Olympic clay-pigeon shooting. He took part in the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960 and Tokyo in 1964, was European team champion six times between 1956 and 1962, European Championship individual runner-up in 1958 in Turin, in 1960 in Barcelona, and in 1961 in Budapest, and also won the Coupe des Nations in Madrid.
 
Foussier received this Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing at the beginning of January 1956 and registered it at his address at 2 Boulevard Suchet. He kept it in the garage of his apartment until March 28, 1961, when he sold it to Roger Loyet, a former racing driver who had become a renowned car dealer in Paris, with clients including Johnny Hallyday, Alain Delon, and Jean-Paul Belmondo.
 
Loyet kept the car for only two months before selling it to Jean Piger, another Parisian industrialist. Piger registered it in his name on May 31, 1961, retaining its original registration number.
 

From 1961 until 2014, the car remained in the ownership of Jean Piger, who sold it in 2014 to a German buyer after it had not been started for 11 years. It was covered in a thick layer of dust and the tyres were flat. Despite this, it needed only six new spark plugs, a battery, and a bit of fuel to start it up and load it onto the buyer’s trailer to head to Germany.
 
The new owner took the car down by lift to his basement, without cleaning or touching it, and placed it inside a plastic storage bubble, protecting it from the passage of time like a work of art.
 
Nine years later, a leading Parisian collector and Mercedes enthusiast visited the German owner and found the car enclosed in the same plastic storage bubble: untouched, dusty, and movingly authentic. After repeated efforts, he managed to buy the car, which thus returned to Paris.
 
By a pure and sensational coincidence, the new French owner lives at exactly the same address as the former owner Claude Foussier, at 2 Boulevard Suchet. Thus, after 70 years, the car returned to the very same place.
 
In December 2025, the car was thoroughly evaluated by specialist Dipl.-Ing. Klaus Kukuk, including paint thickness measurements and the precise recording of all internal numbers. The results are staggering: apart from slightly thicker paint on the right rear section of the body below the bumper and a small touch-up below the passenger door, the entire car has retained its original factory paint. The internal numbers, the hidden numbers on the body panels, and the mechanical components are completely and 100% consistent with the original numbers, even those engraved on the keys.
 
This Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing, chassis no. 198040-6500019, has covered only 34,000 km, and its history is truly fascinating. The Artcurial auction house estimates a sale price between 2 and 5 million euros.