Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing sold at auction for CHF 75,000
On June 23 , 1979, an auction of automotive rarities was held near Zurich, organized by Galerie Koller. Automobil Revue reported on it five days later and announced a new Swiss vintage car auction record. A Mercedes-Benz SSKL with a 7-liter 6-cylinder supercharged engine from 1929 fetched as much as 330,000 Swiss francs . Overall, the AR described the results of the auction as good, with 48 of the 58 vehicles on offer finding a new owner. However, it was also noted that only six of the vehicles were sold above the (high?) estimated price.
Today, almost exactly 32 years later, one can only rub one 's eyes in amazement when examining the hammer prices and estimated values!
Even the then record-breaking 330,000 francs for the SSKL seems like a bargain today, but the 11,000 francs for a Mercedes-Benz 190 SL, the 30,000 francs for a Ferrari 330 GTC, 23,000 francs for a Jaguar XK 120 Roadster or the 16,000 francs for a Jaguar E Cabriolet from 1964 also suggest that a whole series of these vehicles would have made excellent investment objects, as an increase in value by a factor of 4 to 10 or even higher would have been possible for many of the offers to this day. After a Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing was recently sold for over one million USD, the 75,000 francs achieved (estimated price 85,000 francs) seems almost unbelievable.
However, despite the increase in value achieved, one should not forget that a lot of money would have been invested to keep one of these cars in top condition for 32 years. Even for the MG TC, which was knocked down for 20,000 francs, you would probably have paid well over 50,000 francs over the years in insurance, garage rental, maintenance and restoration services, so from a purely sober point of view, it would not have been a great deal, even if you could sell the car today for a good price of over 60,000 francs. With more expensive objects, the case is easier to calculate, as only part of the annual costs incurred are proportional to the value. Assuming a bit of luck, the Ferrari 275 GTB/2 Berlinetta, bought for 60,000 francs, could certainly still have earned something to this day, even if you had to shell out 100,000 to 200,000 francs in running costs in between.
At the end of the day, the important thing should be the enjoyment of owning and driving the car and not the increase in value, which should simply be seen as a nice side effect.
It should also be said that the franc of 1979 was of course worth more than the franc of today; an entry-level VW Golf cost around 11,200 francs in 1979 and 23,400 francs today, and while we went to the movies for six or eight francs in 1979, today we pay 16 to over 20 francs.
Note: The Mercedes SSKL pictured (© Daimler-Benz AG) is not the object being auctioned.
