According to its factory data card, this outstanding 300 SL Gullwing, chassis 6500053, was completed on March 14, 1956. It was finished in the rare and highly desirable color scheme of Black (DB 40) with Dark Red (1080) leather upholstery. Noted as a special-order car, it was factory-equipped with chrome-plated wheels, Continental tires, and was originally destined for delivery in Germany.

While the data card does not list it among the factory options, the original matching-numbers engine block – no. 6500072 – is stamped with the letters “NSL,” denoting the factory’s high-performance sport package. This NSL specification, which included a hotter camshaft, Bosch R3 mechanical injection pump, and a special distributor, was standard on the 29 alloy-bodied Gullwings, and occasionally fitted to steel cars destined for competition. Whether these upgrades were installed at the factory before delivery or retrofitted shortly afterward is unclear. However, their presence is fitting, given the racing pedigree of the Gullwing’s first owner: Rolf-Friedrich Götze of Burscheid, Germany.

Götze served as General Director of Götze Werke AG, a major manufacturer of piston rings, gaskets, and engine components. He began racing in the early 1950s with a 1.1-liter Porsche 356 and competed in many top-tier European events, including the Nürburgring 1000 Km, 1000 Miglia, Coupe de Vitesse at Montlhéry, and Coppa Inter-Europa at Monza. After an accident at Spa in the late 1950s, he transitioned to powerboat racing, where he won both National and European Championship titles. As evidenced by a period photograph in the car’s history file, Herr Götze entered this black Gullwing in the 1956 Rallye Trifels, a competitive event organized by the Automobilclub von Deutschland International Sports Car Club.

Götze’s ownership of the Gullwing appears to have been short-lived; he later traded it for a new 300 SL Roadster. The Gullwing was subsequently exported to the US, where its first reported American owner was George Huntington Hartford II – an heir to the vast A&P supermarket fortune. The car then passed to an owner in Staten Island before being sold in 1959 to Dr. Robert B. Robertson of Rumson, New Jersey.

In April 1970, Dr. Robertson sold the car to Michael Quigley of Skaneateles, New York. According to handwritten notes on file, Quigley discovered the Gullwing in a New York Times classified ad with an asking price of $5,000. At the time, the car had covered approximately 49,500 miles and was equipped with a Becker radio, fog lights, an outside air temperature gauge, 3.25:1 rear-axle gears, and a “racing camshaft.”

Soon after acquiring the car, Quigley joined the Gull Wing Group and remained an active member throughout his 53 years of ownership. He added roughly 15,000 miles, driving it to the 1981 Gull Wing Group convention in Pennsylvania, the 1991 Watkins Glen historic races, and on weekend drives throughout New York’s scenic Finger Lakes region. A detailed logbook documents the attentive care and regular maintenance the Gullwing received under Quigley’s stewardship. His remarkable half-century of ownership came to a close in 2023, when the car was acquired by the current caretaker.

Today, this cherished Gullwing presents with a distinctive patina that only an original, unrestored example can display. At the time of cataloguing, the odometer showed just over 65,000 miles. The car features beautifully aged black nitrocellulose paint and exceptionally well-preserved original upholstery. Included in the sale are the original belly pans, tools, and a comprehensive history file containing a copy of the factory build record, decades of correspondence, and registration documents tracing the car’s ownership for more than 50 years.

For the collector seeking a truly charismatic 300 SL, this car checks every box: a factory black-over-red, German-delivered Gullwing with a well-documented history, matching-numbers engine with rare NSL components, and a provenance that includes an industrialist amateur racer and a devoted long-term enthusiast. It stands as one of the most compelling Gullwings to come to market in recent years and represents an opportunity that is unlikely to repeat itself.

*Please note that this vehicle is titled as 6500048, which is its body number.