Car of the Week: This Restored 1962 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster Could Be Yours for $2.6 Million

Those of you who regularly read our Car of the Week coverage may have noticed a bumper crop of Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadsters featured over the past year. The reason for the frequency is that this model and its sibling coupe are the canaries in the collector-car coal mine, and as such, they have begun chirping vociferously of late. Long an indicator of the market’s health, their prices have recently taken off, gaining altitude akin to a Rüppells Vulture (the world’s highest flyer, at 37,100 feet).

Since becoming first-tier collectibles in the 1970s, both the 300 SL Gullwing Coupé and 300 SL Roadster have been seen as blue-chip investments. Exactly 1,400 Gullwings were built from 1954 through 1957. The Roadster, with 1,858 examples made, underwent numerous production changes from 1957 through 1963, the late models being most desirable.