Frozen in time, the car has never been restored or modified, making it an exceptionally rare survivor. This unique status, paired with its elite configuration and dramatic rediscovery in its original Parisian garage, elevates it far beyond typical collector interest. It will be presented on January 27 at the Hôtel Peninsula in Paris as part of the Automobile Legends sale.
Delivered new in France, this 300 SL Gullwing rolled out of Mercedes-Benz Stuttgart on January 26, 1956, bearing chassis number 198040-6500019. It received every high-performance option available at the time: sport suspension, short rear axle ratio, Rudge wheels, and the coveted NSL engine, which added 20 horsepower. Only around 60 units are believed to combine these specific features. Its original Graphitgrau (DB 190) paint, selected by only 106 customers, is paired with a beige leather interior. All mechanical elements and even the keys are matching and original, right down to the smallest detail.
Elite Origins and a Taste for Precision
This car was one of just 30 Gullwings delivered new to France and was commissioned by Mercedes-Benz Paris via Garage Royal-Élysées, then led by Charles Delcroix. It was purchased by Claude Foussier, a Parisian industrialist with ties to Pernod-Ricard and Coca-Cola‘s European distribution. But Foussier was more than a businessman, he was a champion in precision shooting, having represented France at the Rome 1960 and Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games and earning six European team titles.
According to Auto Journal, Foussier’s automotive choices reflected both his passion for performance and his means. His cars were carefully selected and often tailored, like his later Ferrari 250 SWB. The 300 SL was no exception. Delivered in January 1956 to his home at 2 boulevard Suchet, it combined mechanical excellence with discreet elegance, aligning with his lifestyle and status.
Decades of Quiet Custody
The Mercedes remained in Foussier’s hands until March 1961, when it was sold to Roger Loyet, a former racing driver turned car dealer catering to high-profile clients from cinema and music. Within two months, the car changed hands again, bought by Jean Piger, an industrialist who would keep it for 53 years. Piger chose to preserve the car exactly as it was. It was stored in original condition at his château in Margeaix, untouched and unmodified. A circulation sticker from 1993 still stuck on the windshield shows that the car was driven into the 1990s.
When Piger sold the car in 2014, it hadn’t run in eleven years. Yet, after only basic maintenance, the engine started. The car was then sent to Germany, where its new owner placed it under a plastic dome in a basement, unwashed, unrestored, and possibly still holding 1993 gasoline. Not a single cleaning cloth touched its body since.
A Return Home, and a Surreal Coincidence
The most unexpected chapter unfolded in 2023, when a Parisian collector discovered the car and purchased it. The location? The same address where it was first delivered in 1956: 2 boulevard Suchet. By pure coincidence, the vehicle returned to the exact same garage it had left nearly 70 years earlier. “Even a novelist couldn’t have imagined this,” the same source notes.
In December 2025, expert Klaus Kukuk performed a full evaluation. The findings were definitive: the vehicle retains almost all of its original paint, with only minor localized touch-ups. It had never been dismantled or restored and showed only 34,255 kilometers on the odometer. The original upholstery, tools, 1956 license plate, and even a missing suitcase from the factory set were still present.
The model’s authenticity, combined with its rare configuration and untouched state, makes it one of the most desirable 300 SLs ever offered at auction. With fewer than 100 cars known to combine the NSL engine, Rudge wheels, and sports suspension, this one’s preservation status makes it a museum-worthy anomaly.
