Tag Archives: gullwing

The Gullwing Alfa Romeo

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1976 Alfa Romeo Giulia 2000 GT Veloce Gullwing Coupe

Offered by Aguttes | Lyon, France | November 10, 2018

Photo – Aguttes

The original 4-door Alfa Romeo Giulia went on sale in 1962 and spawned the Series 105/115 Coupes that followed in 1963. There were quite a few variants of the 2-door Giulia. This car began life as a 2000 GT Veloce, a model offered between 1971 and 1976.

Such cars were powered by a 2.0-liter Twin Cam straight-four that made 130 horsepower. They’re great-looking cars, as were most Alfa 2-doors from this era. One thing they didn’t offer from the factory though: gullwing doors.

Some enterprising German decided to build such a car, because, why not? After all, Mercedes-Benz did it 20 years before, so how hard could it be? The car was fully restored and finished in brown. The new doors look seamless – as if this was how the car was born. It’s funky. We love it. It’s a unique one-off creation that is expected to bring between $55,000-$90,000 at auction. Click here for more from Aguttes.

Update: Sold $121,467.

300SL Sportabteilung

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1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Race Car

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | New York, New York | December 10, 2015

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

The Mercedes-Benz 300SL “Gullwing” is one of the “must-have” collector cars for serious collectors. And serious collectors need only apply, because in recent years, prices for 300SLs have skyrocketed from around the $500,000 mark to an easy million. Total production of 300SL coupes was about 1,400 examples. Alloy (or aluminium-bodied) cars are highly sought after and very rare. But this is a different animal.

You’re looking at one of only four factory-prepped steel-bodied 300SL Gullwing race cars. Many Gullwings saw competition, usually in the hands of privateer weekend racers, but this is the real deal. Mercedes-Benz sent this car to their sporting department (or “Sportabteilung”) to beef it up to see what the stresses of racing did to their road car.

The engine is a 3.0-liter straight-six making an estimated 240 horsepower – more than a standard road cars. Other upgrades included a lower ride height, competition exhaust, better brakes, and more. Its factory race history is unknown, but it is believed that the car was used as a trainer by Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, John Fitch, and others.

Mercedes sold the car to a guy in Paris who entered it in the 1956 Tour de France, in which the car finished second at the hands of Stirling Moss. The father of the current owner acquired the car in 1966. It sat for 40 years and was only recently “refurbished” to road-worthy condition. It has never been fully restored. It is the first of the four Sportabteilung Gullwings and one of only two known to still exist. It will likely become the most expensive 300SL to ever publicly trade hands. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Alloy 300SL Gullwing

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1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Alloy Gullwing

Offered by RM Auctions | London, England | October 31, 2012

I’m beginning to think I’ve missed the heyday of custom ordering automobiles. No longer can you go to your local dealer and tick boxes for absurd options that included special engines or go-fast bits from race cars – or, insanely, the type of metal your car is made out of.

Most of Mercedes-Benz’s legendary 300SLs were steel-bodied cars, save for the aluminium hood, doors and trunk lid. Only 29 of them were “Alloy” bodied cars, that is, aluminium all the way around. The cost for this special option was very high and the weight savings around 175 lbs.

These cars were intended for privateer racing teams and were available beginning in 1955, the same year Mercedes-Benz withdrew from competitive motorsport. Other sporting changes made to the Alloy cars included suspension upgrades and those awesome Rudge knock-off wheels. There was also a “special” engine available (to all Gullwings, according to Mercedes) that used a competition camshaft, adding 15 horsepower. This car has that as well, so it’s 3.0-liter straight six makes 215 horsepower.

This is car #21 of the 29 built and its ownership history is known from new. An Alloy 300SL is the most desirable version of an already must-have classic (not counting any of the earlier racing versions). This one has no stories and would be a joy to own – and maybe even flog a little on the backroads. I just hope that the new owner is into that sort of thing, and not into storing this in a bunker somewhere, waiting for prices to rise so they can turn around and cash in. Gooding & Company sold one of these earlier this year for over $4 million. This should do likewise. You can read more here and check out more from RM in London here.

Update: Not sold.