1954 Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing review, test drive

To compete with larger-engined Ferraris and Maseratis, Merc borrowed heavily from the aviation industry to make the 300 SL. We get behind the wheel.

Published on May 31, 2013 03:53:00 PM

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It sounds like something straight out of a dream. Drive from the Mercedes-Benz Centre in Brooklands, outside London, to the Goodwood Festival of Speed; meet up with the Mercedes-Benz Heritage transporter; pull the 300 SL out; climb in through the gull-wing doors and take it for a nice, long, leaf-scattering howl along some traffic-free English country roads.In fact, so surreal is the plan, I fully expect to be woken up at any moment, crows cawing outside my window in Mumbai. Then it gets even worse, even more dream-like. No special instructions are issued about driving the car, no restrictions are imposed; we just pull open the gull-wing doors and are helped in. Are they mad?

It sounds like something straight out of a dream. Drive from the Mercedes-Benz Centre in Brooklands, outside London, to the Goodwood Festival of Speed; meet up with the Mercedes-Benz Heritage transporter; pull the 300 SL out; climb in through the gull-wing doors and take it for a nice, long, leaf-scattering howl along some traffic-free English country roads.In fact, so surreal is the plan, I fully expect to be woken up at any moment, crows cawing outside my window in Mumbai. Then it gets even worse, even more dream-like. No special instructions are issued about driving the car, no restrictions are imposed; we just pull open the gull-wing doors and are helped in. Are they mad?

It sounds like something straight out of a dream. Drive from the Mercedes-Benz Centre in Brooklands, outside London, to the Goodwood Festival of Speed; meet up with the Mercedes-Benz Heritage transporter; pull the 300 SL out; climb in through the gull-wing doors and take it for a nice, long, leaf-scattering howl along some traffic-free English country roads.In fact, so surreal is the plan, I fully expect to be woken up at any moment, crows cawing outside my window in Mumbai. Then it gets even worse, even more dream-like. No special instructions are issued about driving the car, no restrictions are imposed; we just pull open the gull-wing doors and are helped in. Are they mad?

It sounds like something straight out of a dream. Drive from the Mercedes-Benz Centre in Brooklands, outside London, to the Goodwood Festival of Speed; meet up with the Mercedes-Benz Heritage transporter; pull the 300 SL out; climb in through the gull-wing doors and take it for a nice, long, leaf-scattering howl along some traffic-free English country roads.In fact, so surreal is the plan, I fully expect to be woken up at any moment, crows cawing outside my window in Mumbai. Then it gets even worse, even more dream-like. No special instructions are issued about driving the car, no restrictions are imposed; we just pull open the gull-wing doors and are helped in. Are they mad?

It sounds like something straight out of a dream. Drive from the Mercedes-Benz Centre in Brooklands, outside London, to the Goodwood Festival of Speed; meet up with the Mercedes-Benz Heritage transporter; pull the 300 SL out; climb in through the gull-wing doors and take it for a nice, long, leaf-scattering howl along some traffic-free English country roads.In fact, so surreal is the plan, I fully expect to be woken up at any moment, crows cawing outside my window in Mumbai. Then it gets even worse, even more dream-like. No special instructions are issued about driving the car, no restrictions are imposed; we just pull open the gull-wing doors and are helped in. Are they mad?

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