As the sensational Mercedes-Benz 300SL 'Gullwing' celebrates its 55th anniversary today, Vijay Pattni looks at one of the world's very first supercars.

“Eternal youth is a miracle bestowed on only a small number of cars...and the Mercedes-Benz 300SL is one of this elite group.”

Quite.

Yet despite the Hollywood-esque above quote from Mercedes when describing its most proud moment, there is no denying the fact that the 300SL 'Gullwing' is a sensational car.

So sensational in fact, that at F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone's 'garage sale' in 2007, a 300SL was auctioned off for a whopping £240,000, and if you do find a mint condition one, expect to pay at least that, or possibly more...

So why is the 300SL such a classic supercar?

Take its history for starters. The 300SL was initially conceived as a purpose-built racing car - which means it had only one thing on its mind...speed.

This new Mercedes-Benz sporting coupe began racking up a series of wins in major races - at the Bern Grand Prix the 300SL was reported to have "sealed a clean sweep of podium places", which backed up a one-two finish in the Le Mans 24 hours.

The 300SL also conquered the world's most notorious racetrack - the Nurburgring - by winning another one-two-three, and the sensational Benz also claimed victory in the Carrera Panamericana in Mexico, capping off a mighty period of motorsport success for Mercedes.

But the 300SL's outstanding racing results were not enough to persuade Merc bosses that people would actually want to own this hardened racer, until they were sweet-talked by official US Benz importer Maximilian Hoffman. He was said to have campaigned "tirelessly" for Mercedes to build a sportscar which he could then sell to his well-heeled clientiele.

And after "lengthy" discussions, the fuse was lit - and the 300SL for the road was born.

The heart of the 300SL lay with the six-cylinder engine producing 215bhp, and was one of the world's first performance engines to feature direct injection. 

Mercedes even offered customers different 'ratios', meaning they could tailor their particular SL for top speed or acceleration. Some of the top-speed SL's could reach 161mph - in 1954.

The 300SL was capable of hitting 62mph - 100km/h - in 10 seconds, and featured an almost perfect centre of gravity, which was said to "lay the foundations for fast and precise cornering".

This 215bhp heart was fitted inside an aluminium skin, stretched over a tubular frame and designed to be as aerodynamic as possible. But when the engineers built the 300SL this way, they found the side sills rose much further up the car than planned.

So instead of compromising the space-age structure, they designed the doors to open upwards, and created the famous ‘Gullwing’ style.

And the press at the time loved it. AutoSport magazine reported that "the exterior form of the 300SL is quite wonderful and its performance almost unbelievable. 

"The construction of the car and its production quality are first class and the whole concept represents an uncompromising realization of all the new ideas".

Road & Track magazine reported that “we are looking at a car where a comfortable interior is complemented by remarkably impressive handling characteristics, quite incredible road-holding, light and precise steering, and performance levels which are up there with – and even an improvement on – the best cars the automotive industry has to offer. There is only one thing left to say: the sports car of the future has become a reality".

And Auto, Motor und Sport magazine in Germany said “the Mercedes 300 SL is the most refined and at the same time the most inspirational sports car of our era – an automotive dream".

Lavish praise indeed...but as we all know, the Benz bank balance is the biggest indicator of success. And in this way, the car's US conspirator Maximilian Hoffman was vindicated: a total of 1,400 Mercedes-Benz 300SL 'Gullwing' models were built, and 1,100 were sold in America.

As Mercedes noted..."Hoffman had every right to be satisfied with his work".

And what a job...just look at it.

Jay Kay owns a classic Mercedes previously owned by a famous fashion designer...see if you can spot it in our gallery below: (Click on the image to launch the gallery)

From one of the world's most expensive Mercedes - to the UK's most expensive numberplates:

A 300 SL Gullwing Mercedes is on display at the Mercedes-Benz World in Surrey, alongside these hot AMG models: