Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster

Information

This 300 SL was delivered as a new car liveried in Graphite Grey by the dealership Autohaus Auto Henne located in Munich in February 1959, similar to 124 other examples of the vehicle. However, the roadster is absolutely unique with its colour combination in Graphite Grey DB 190 over a two-tone leather interior finished in grey (Code 1109) / white (Code 1097) and augmented with grey contrast piping, and a hardtop painted in Pearl Grey.
In the early 1970s, the car crossed the ocean to the USA where it was purchased by Pieter Meijer from Santa Barbara in California. Meijer hailed from the Netherlands and was Chief Steward on an ocean liner operated by Royal Rotterdam Lloyd, travelling the world on the ocean wave. Ultimately, his yearning for faraway places took him to California and here is where he purchased this 300 SL Roadster. In 1980, the sports car was sold back to an owner based in Germany where it disappeared from view into a private collection. It was stored for more than 43 years until the treasured jewel was awakened from its ‘Sleeping Beauty slumber’ in 2024. The awakening revealed an exceptionally interesting 300 SL Roadster. The original leather upholstery is exceptionally well preserved and the bodywork had only been overpainted with a thin coating of red. This top layer was carefully removed and large sections of the original Graphite Grey paintwork could be rescued. As part of a sensitive restoration, the paint was refreshed with a thin top layer in order to unveil the vehicle’s original aesthetic appeal.