Sold for $
505,105 on March 28, 2015
More expensive
than the 300 SL sports car and almost double the price of the
contemporary top-of-the-range Cadillac, the Mercedes-Benz 300 S was one
of the world's most exclusive automobiles. It is also historically
significant as one of Mercedes-Benz's first all-new designs of the
post-war era, debuting in the autumn of 1951. The 300's arrival
re-established Mercedes-Benz in the front rank of prestige car
manufacturers, marking as it did a return to the marque's tradition of
building high-performance luxury automobiles of the finest quality.
Initially developing 150 bhp, the 3.0-litre, overhead-camshaft,
six-cylinder engine - used in fuel-injected form in the 300 SL sports
car - was boosted in power for the succeeding 300b and 300c models,
finally gaining fuel injection in the restyled 300d of 1957. Other
improvements along the way included larger brakes (with servo-assistance
from 1954), optional power steering (on the 300d) and the adoption of
three-speed automatic transmission as standard on the latter.
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