Mercedes Benz Axor 3340
Series: Other models
Not the right version? The data comes from vehicle registers holding many near-identical versions side by side. Photograph the data plate — we read make and type from it. Open the scanner e-mail address required
Mercedes-Benz 300 SL – key facts: production model developed from the 1952 W194 racing car, with a tubular space frame and upward-opening doors on the coupé, built as coupé and roadster until 1963
The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL traces back to the W194 racing car, which Mercedes-Benz campaigned in 1952 in events including Le Mans and the Carrera Panamericana. From that racing car came the road-going production version, which Mercedes-Benz offered as a coupé with upward-swinging doors and as an open roadster.
Read on 3 more paragraphs
The coupé's distinctive upward-opening doors were not a styling flourish but a technical necessity: the 300 SL's tubular space frame ran high along the sides of the cabin, leaving no room for conventional, floor-reaching doors. Only the open roadster received a lowered section of frame and, with it, conventional doors.
The 300 SL was an exceptionally fast production car for its time and helped shape Mercedes-Benz's reputation as a builder of sporting cars beyond its saloons alone. The combination of a tubular space frame, lightweight body parts and, for the period, an unusual level of performance made it a deliberately positioned exceptional model within the line-up of a mass-market manufacturer.
Buying a historic 300 SL, the traceable history of the car and the matching of chassis, engine and body numbers matter above all, since no other Mercedes model of that era carries as strong an incentive for forgery or inflated valuation. Technically decisive are the condition of the tubular frame for accident damage and corrosion, the tightness of the mechanical petrol injection, and the state of the seals on the upward-opening doors, which quickly start leaking if wrongly adjusted.
Sources: SpecCodex-Register: Kennwerte des Modells 300SL
What to check before buying
- Check the hour meter against the service records — a replaced instrument is the most common gap.
- Compare the data plate and chassis number with the papers.
- Ask about parts availability for this build year — the running costs hang on it.
A general list for this type of machine — no substitute for an inspection or an appraiser.
We do not sell machines. We ask the dealers who carry this model and come back with price and lead time.
Request a quote →
We ask the suppliers and come back with price and lead time.
Request spare parts →
This page carries 1 individual figure for this model. They come from 1 recorded source; every figure can be traced there. What we cannot document is not here — we leave gaps open rather than estimate them.
Missing a figure you were looking for? Report it →
Know this machine better? Have a photo, a manual, or know that a figure is wrong? Add it to the register →
Other models in this series
2624
300SL
A-Class
Actros
Actros
Actros 1824 LS 4x2
Actros 1827 LS 4x2
Actros 1836 LS 4x2
Actros 1841 LS 4x2
Actros 1845 LS 4x2
Actros 1846 LS 4x2
Actros 1850 LS 4x2
Sources: [1]