Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster, 1963
Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR
Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR•
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Chassis No.: 19804210003191
- Exterior: Silver
- Interior: Red
- Body: Roadster
- Rare alloy engine and disc brakes
- Last year of the original SL sports car
- Soft top with optional hardtop
- Original owner and overseas delivery docs
- All mechanicals up to date
- Locally owned for its entire life
- Owned by Concours Motors since 1973
- Been on the Colorado Grand twice
- 42,164 miles
- 3.0L/212 HP single overhead cam inline-6
- Mechanical direct fuel injection, Bosch injection pump
- 4-speed manual transmission
- 4-wheel power disc brakes
- Dealer shop manual
- Toolkit
- Excellent condition
Just as the Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing coupe set the early post-war standard for excellence in a closed-cockpit sports car, so did the 300SL Roadster do the same for its category. Building on lessons learned in the coupes, 300SL roadsters incorporated significant improvements in handling and braking while benefitting from the obvious aesthetic advantage of roadster styling. When the Roadster superseded the coupe in 1957, the 300SL designation already represented the world’s finest sports car, a title the Roadster would continue to claim. This 1963 300SL Roadster was acquired by William E.
Wuesthoff, principal of the longtime Mercedes-Benz franchise dealership Concours Motors in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, over 40 years ago. The first owner, Mr. Bernard Gruenke of Brookfield, Wisconsin, purchased the car from AFL Motors, Inc. of Milwaukee, taking delivery at the factory in Stuttgart in March of 1963 and driving it in Europe before shipping it home. The car was finished in Graphite Grey with Red leather interior, White Grey hardtop and a Black soft top.
Beginning in 1961, 300SLs were factory equipped with 4-wheel disc brakes and for 1963 with the infamous alloy engine; this Roadster was also optioned with a Becker Grand Prix radio, boot cover container, Whitewall tires and antifreeze, bringing the final price to $8,971.04 including taxes. Due to misunderstanding of how to care for and properly maintain an alloy engine, Mr. Gruenke often drove the car short distances in Wisconsin’s extremely cold winter without allowing the engine to reach proper operating temperature, the mechanical fuel injection would flush the cylinder walls with fuel, washing away oil from the cylinder walls and causing wear.
Mercedes-Benz authorized a factory replacement alloy engine block and pistons under warranty with identical aluminum components, a fact confirmed in a sworn affidavit signed by Lothar Altman, a Mercedes Benz Master Mechanic with Daum Motors of Milwaukee, which had taken over the AFL Motors franchise. The rest of the original engine components have remained with the car ever since. After being taken in on trade by Concours Motors and quickly sold, the car was re-purchased by Mr. Wuesthoff and Concours Motors in 1973 and has remained in their care ever since. In the late 1980s Mr. Wuesthoff took the car to 300SL specialist James Werner’s Werner Coach Werken in Cudahy, Wisconsin. Mr.
Werner reconditioned the car with new Silver Metallic paint, new carpets and a new soft top, followed by a complete cleaning and detailing. To keep the car in top condition, in 2012 Mr. Wuesthoff delivered it to noted 300SL technical specialist Steve Pelham of Clinton, Iowa to overhaul the engine, which was removed from the car, allowing the entire engine compartment to be cleaned and detailed. He describes the engine as being “one hundred and ten percent.” Mr. Wuesthoff estimates he has driven the car between 4,000 and 5,000 miles during his ownership, bringing total original mileage to 42,164 miles.
Its two major outings have been participation in the Colorado Grand road rally and a showing at the Milwaukee Masterpiece, where it won its class in 2012. It has never been raced, but Mr. Wuesthoff has exercised it regularly to keep it in supple operating condition. Mr. Wuesthoff, who in the 1950s and 1960s raced a wide array of sports cars and remains on the Road America Board of Directors, describes driving the 300SL Roadster: “I sold the Gullwings new in 1955 and ’56, when we were working with Max Hoffmann (the famous New York City-based European sports car importer).
They tended to be a little more demanding because of the higher-pivot swing rear axles, whereas the Roadsters had lower-pivot swing axles, which made them much more stable in high-speed cornering. The drivability is fantastic; the car is just amazing, even though it’s as old as it is. It drives really well, even at higher speeds. It’s just really fun to drive.” This 1963 300SL Roadster has everything to recommend it to the most demanding buyer.
For over forty years it has been in the careful ownership of a career Mercedes Benz dealer of impeccable reputation; it has been meticulously maintained with special attention to retaining its originality, and it is offered with full documentation that includes copies of the original order for European delivery and receipts for the delivery in Stuttgart. In short, it is a classic that any Mercedes-Benz enthusiast would be proud to own.
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