Check Out the Biggest Gathering of Mercedes Gullwings Ever in the US
OCT 9, 2025
By Mark Vaughn – West Coast Editor, Autoweek
Oct 9, 2025
The Mercedes-Benz SL was only made from 1954 to 1963, but man-oh-man was it good. Fast, reliable, and even comfortable, it remains one of the most sought-after classics of all time.
Like many great historic cars, it has racing provenance. It started out as the road-going version of the all-conquering race car that came before it, the W194. That car took victories at Le Mans and in La Carrera Panamericana in its first year, 1952. It also finished second and fourth in the Mille Miglia.
It’ll drive with the wings up. Mark Vaughn
The road-going version came after that, first the Gullwing and then the Roadster. The Gullwing was, of course, named after its trademark doors that rose up on inboard-mounted struts “like the wings of a gull,” an anomaly in the days of the forward-hinged doors that were on everything else in the world. They made those until 1957, when the SL Roadster came out, a convertible top with “normal” doors.
Both were powerful and reliable. Still are, among the favorites for those fancy rallies you read about here in Autoweek. Back in the day, everyone cool owned one: Clark Gable, Sophia Lauren, Yul Brynner, Paul Newman, and even Frank Lloyd Wright.
The SL’s many great features continues to appeal to rally drivers today. Which may explain why so many of them are not only still around but still prized by the lucky few who own them now.
Thus, when the idea came to gather the Gullwings, a lot of owners responded. Last Saturday at Finish Line Auto Club in Costa Mesa, California, a record number of them assembled.
‘We do Cars and Coffee events here, and we always have a featured marque,” said Auto Club tenant Kip Cyprus. “We do a 300 SL event and every year it has been getting bigger and bigger, and we just… it seemed like it was like the perfect opportunity, because there were a lot of people who were intrigued by it. So I just got on the phone and I started calling everyone I know.”
Just one row... Finish Line Auto Club
What’s the appeal?
“Well, it’s the most iconic car that was built so far ahead of its time. You know, today you can have a 300 SL and take it on a rally and it is still like a modern car. In the ’50s, 300 SLs were equivalent to cars that were into the ’70s. You go on a vintage rally, the even if it’s a later rally where the cars are from the 1970s, the 300 SLs are always in the front.”
I mentioned that I got to drive one in the Colorado Grand, a 1,000-mile rally through the Golden State.
“Perfect example. What’s the one car that there’s more of than anything on the Colorado Grand? It’s probably the 300 SL. It’s the most dependable. It has a basic truck engine. It’s the most dependable and comfortable car that you could get.”
Drew Grundfor, part of the Scott Grundfor Co. family of SL experts and restoration specialists, agreed.
The scene at Finish Line Auto Club Saturday. Finish Line Auto Club
“They only made 1,400 Coupes and 1,800 Roadsters,” Grundfor said, standing next to a row of cars his company brought to the SL celebration. “They’re all over $1 million, the least expensive is over $1 million. They go up from there: $2 million, $3 million, $4 million.”
You may recall that it was a Mercedes SL, the Uhlenhaut Coupe, that sold for $142 million in 2022, twice the previous record for a car sale.
So it was these cars that all came together at Finish Line Auto Club in Costa Mesa. Click through the gallery to see what was there. And plan now for next year’s Colorado Grand.
