A rare example of the Mercedes-Benz 300SL, abandoned in a Los Angeles junkyard for decades, has sold for an staggering amount at auction.
With a final sale price of $9.355 million (£7.21 million), the 1956 ‘Gullwing’ far exceeded its already considerable pre-auction estimate of $4.5 to $6 million (£3.47 to £4.63 million).
The Mercedes was just one star of the RM Sotheby’s Rudi Klein Junkyard auction, which saw more than 200 special cars and rare parts go under the hammer.
One of just 29 produced
California-based Rudi Klein amassed a staggering collection of cars at his (deliberately misspelled) Porche Foreign Auto Wrecking yard in Los Angeles. After his death in 2001, Klein’s family left the junkyard untouched.
It means cars such as this rare, alloy-bodied 300SL have not been seen in public for decades.
Designed as a semi-competition version of the glamorous Gullwing, just 29 examples of the lightweight alloy model were produced.
Acquired by Klein in 1976, this special Mercedes had been hidden away for many years before it was photographed for the RM Sotheby’s sale.
A record-breaking Iso Grifo
Throughout his life, Rudi Klein amassed an enormous number of unique cars, including the only convertible version of the Iso Grifo.
Displayed at the 1964 Geneva Motor Show, the open-top Grifo was later exported to the United States and registered for road use. Klein managed to purchase the car in 1980, and even drove it as his own personal vehicle before it disappeared behind the junkyard walls.
At the RM Sotheby’s sale, the Grifo Spider achieved a final auction price of $1.875 million (£1.45million) when the hammer fell: a record-breaking auction price for an Iso Grifo.
Time to get the T-Cut out…
Proving just how extensive the Rudi Klein collection was, the auction catalogue included no less than three Lamborghini Miuras.
All the cars managed to find new owners, but the aqua green 1968 Miura P400 pictured above achieved the highest price, selling for $1.325 million (£1.02million).
Although clearly in need of restoration, and wearing a non-original paint colour, being verified as the 159th of 275 examples made will have attracted collectors.
Other notable cars rescued from the junkyard included a 1935 Mercedes-Benz made for racing driver Rudolf Caracciola, plus a rare Porsche 356 coupe.
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