An ultra-rare version of the 300 SL is for sale. Should be nice and cheap, then

If you’ve been around cars and car auctions for a while, you may have noticed something of a trend recently. And that something is an inescapable, inexorable inflation of classic-car prices.

So it’ll hardly surprise you to learn that Gooding & Company’s price estimate for when this 300 SL Roadster crosses the auction block at Pebble Beach next month is between $1,750,000 and $2,250,000. That’s about £1,400,000 to £1,900,000 in the land of Earl Grey, English Breakfast and royalty, or about enough to wallpaper 10 Downing Street. Maybe even twice.

But as anyone in our generation is already a seasoned veteran at watching things leave affordability behind for good, let’s quit quibbling about figures and remember what’s on offer for the money – proper racing pedigree, near-unimpeachable heritage, performance that made it the fastest road car in its day and proportions that still earn it a place among the most beautiful. This SL in particular also gets the later, lighter all-alloy engine, as opposed to those hoi polloi driving 300 SLs that only have alloy heads. Commoners.

And if the money it could fetch still troubles you, remember that we’re talking about the 1950s version of the AMG One – an absolutely dominating race car, civilised for ordinary roads and sold to people with fairly ordinary driving talents. And extraordinary wealth.

Possibly the only thing keeping the price in check is that it’s a) not a Gullwing, and b) not the ultra-limited run alloy-bodied cars intended for privateer racing. And yes, that is the racing version of the road version of a racing car. Such madness might feel like a modern confection, but it’s been around a while too.

Images: Mike Maez, Copyright and Courtesy of Gooding & Company