Classic car to sell for £750k at auction despite looking like it’s from a scrapyard – thanks to highly desirable feature
A RARE classic car is set to sell for a staggering $750,000 despite looking as if it should be scrapped for metal.
The vintage 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster, which resembles a rust bucket more than a classic motor, features a rare item that will see its value go through the roof.
The 67-year-old classic Mercedes-Benz model is only one of 30 cars with a rare and highly desirable competition-derived set of Rudge wheels.
Despite its highly desirable and rare set of wheels, the 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster is in desperate need of restoration after many decades of neglect.
The buyer will have a huge job on their hands to bring it back to its former glory.
The rusted car has a damaged body, a missing headlight, flat tyres, a run-down engine and a rusted-out paint job.
The vehicle was originally finished in an iconic fire engine red exterior with a cream leather interior.
Underneath the bonnet is a six-cylinder engine that in its prime would offer the car an impressive 225 horsepower.
Despite its age, the car only has 11,000 miles on the clock, as reported by Luxury Auto News.
The roadster will now head under the hammer as part of the junkyard collection by RM Sotheby’s.
The event will take place on 26 October in Los Angeles, California, US.
A spokesperson for RM Sotheby’s said: “In September 1957 the completed 300 SL was delivered to its buyer, a Mr. Thompson of Kitzingen, Germany.
“The Gullwing Group Roadster Register displays no data for chassis number 7500173 whatsoever, suggesting the car was not in the possession of active collectors in the niche before it came into the purview of the Junkyard.
“The Roadster has therefore apparently been removed from the marque community for many decades, and it would surely encounter a warm welcome once properly restored and recommissioned for driving and exhibition.”
It comes as a rare 1930s Mercedes was mysteriously found under a manure pile on an Ethiopian farm.
The 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500 K ‘Caracciola’ Special Coupe is being offered for sale by Sotheby’s.
The auction has been hailed as an opportunity to acquire and freshly restore one of the most famous and desired of all Mercedes-Benzes.
Formerly owned by legendary California enthusiasts Dr. Milton Roth and ML “Bill” Post, it was last seen by the public since 1980.
Currently the vehicle is being offered without reserve and without a listing price.
It is named after Rudolf Caracciola, the first non-Italian to win the Mille Miglia.
Caracciola was the star of Mercedes-Benz’s Formula 1 team, occupying a position in the public eye akin to that of Lewis Hamilton.
Following this success Mercedes-Benz built him unique car creation on what was then their ultimate supercharged chassis.
The listing reads: “The design of the car was tailored specifically for Caracciola.
“Hence the somewhat taller but nonetheless well-balanced roofline and windshield, accommodating the driver’s height.
“Significantly, the build sheet clearly lists Caracciola as the receiving original owner, via the dealer in Paris.
“Caracciola posed with the car and Alfred Neubauer, manager of the Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix team, at Bremerhaven prior to embarking to America for the George Vanderbilt Cup.
“Further, the car is known to have been utilised in at least one Mercedes-Benz advertisement in-period. It was, like its driver, a star.
“It is believed that Caracciola used the car until the late 1930s, and that it was then resold through the Paris dealer.”