courtesy of Axel Schuette / Oerlinghausen / Germany
#198.043.5500426 - The 16th "alloy body" 300SL produced / 29
Rallye de Monte-Carlo 1956, Private collection - Germany

I have the pleasure and the honour to present this register of this Mercedes 300SL Coupé or «Gullwing», a mythical car that I am especially fond of. Hans Hürlimann, a car collector, is at the origin of this register. About 30 years ago, Hans decided to create a register of all the cars of this type and I am proud to have contributed to it by adding all the new information and bringing it up to date.

I hope that every reader will be able to find the model he is looking for and I will be grateful for any new data that could enhance this book.

Your sincerely,
Eric Le Moine

Archives Maurice Louche, #198.043.5500426 - The 16th "alloy body" 300SL produced / 29 ex. Max Egon Becker, Rallye de Monte-Carlo 1956
- Private collection - Germany

Chassis-Nr. #198.040.6500024 ex. Geneva Motorshow car 1956, 6. Juni 1956
© Polizei Kanton Thurgau

Foreword on the creation of a register of «gullwing»

I would like to go back a few years and start with the story of the creation of the register. In March 1956, I accompanied my father to the Motor-show in Geneva. There, on the exhibition stand of Mercedes, we discovered an ivory Mercedes 300 SL «gullwing». My father was so fascinated by this car that he bought it and signed the contract on the stand.

Shortly after the end of the fair, we received the car used during the exhibition, with the serial identification number
198 040 6500024. From that day until now, the «gullwing» have always been present in my life. In the meantime, I acquired 30 of these cars, restored and then sold them, usually to acquaintances.

But more and more often I ecountered the same questions about the origin, the equipment and the possible «criminal history» of the car. I decided then, in 1978, to gather all the informations necessary to the creation of a register from the motor clubs, dealers and car owners. With a lot of patience and hard work, I finally published a concise and precise register in 1981.

Now, after 26 years, many of the cars have new owners. There is a huge amount of information waiting to be filed but I don't want to carry out this task a second time. I was therefore very happy when Eric Le Moine called me last year to announce that he intended to elaborate an up-to-date register.

Of course, when we met later on, I gave him all the current information in my possession. Now, we are all very excited to see the new version of the register. I wish Eric a lot of success.

Hans Hürlimann from Switzerland

© Polizei Kanton Thurgau

© Polizei Kanton Thurgau