• Remained in first ownership for ca. 45 years; current owner since 2012
• Finished as-delivered in DB190 Graphite Grey with red leather, both largely original
• 88,215km recorded (believed correct), with hardtop, Becker Mexico radio, Hirschmann antenna and original books and papers
• December 2025 inspection by 300 SL expert Sebastian Hoffman of TüV confirms all matching and original numbers other than factory exchange gearbox
• Recipient of a comprehensive, €30,358 service by HK Engineering in October 2025
• Swiss registered

300 SL ROADSTER

An advertising strapline for the 300 SL Roadster by its distributors in the US, the Studebaker-Packard Corporation, neatly sums up he virtues of the new car.

The 300 SL Roadster replaced the legendary ‘Gullwing’ as Mercedes’ superexpensive sports car for the world’s motoring elite, making its debut at the 1957 Geneva Motor Show.

This 1959 300 SL Roadster is a highly authentic example, collected from the factory by its first owner, American Peter Christian Beer, believed to then be an intelligence officer in the United States Army.

Only a couple of years later and back in the USA, Beer (1920-2005) bought a new Ferrari 250 GT SWB from Luigi Chinetti in June 1962 and was to own both expensive sports cars for the rest of his life, taking them with him when he moved to the UK in 1970.

The current Swiss owner bought the 300 SL in March 2012. Today, although mechanically restored while in Beer’s ownership, it is cosmetically very original with much of its first paint and red leather interior intact.

A well-preserved car with straightforward ownership trail, hardtop and a raft of super-rare manuals, this is the proverbial ‘no stories’ 300 Roadster in one of the best colour combinations, suitable for top-tier Preservation Class concours, exclusive tours and regular enjoyment.

THE MERCEDES-BENZ 300 SL ROADSTER

Replacing the iconic and groundbreaking 300 SL ‘Gullwing’ coupé was not the work of a moment, particularly for DaimlerBenz’s exacting engineers. But the resulting 300 SL Roadster had similar performance to the racing car-like Gullwing, was no less exciting yet even more usable.

Daimler-Benz retained the famous tubular space-frame chassis of the earlier car but modified it to allow for more accessible doors. A characteristic of the coupé – the absence of conventional boot space – was addressed by a new, smaller capacity fuel tank that wrapped round the spare wheel allowing luggage to be stowed normally. The elegant fabric top folded away under a neat metal panel behind the seats and the glass windows were proper wind-ups. A hardtop was offered as an extra, sometimes body-coloured, sometimes contrasting.

The new car was powered by the 300 SL’s familiar fuel-injected straight-six, but redesigned rear suspension endowed the Roadster with better roadholding and more comfort. The optional ‘Sport’ camshaft of the Gullwing became standard, increasing power by 5bhp to 215bhp. Depending on rear-axle ratio, performance was class-leading: British testers recorded a maximum of 138mph and 0-60mph in 7.8 seconds.

Drawn by Friedrich Geiger under the direction of Head of Design Karl Wilfert, the 300 SL Roadster’s lines were graceful with a hint of menace, the famous square, ‘eggbox’ air exits on the flanks of the car now carrying extended chrome flashes that continued into the doors. A lockable fuel filler flap was located on the driver’s side of the rear wing.

The new car was powerful, expensive and exotic, and immediately became a favourite of industrialists, film stars and wealthy sportsmen the world over. A handful of Roadsters were raced and rallied. It sold even better than the Gullwing: 1,858 Roadsters left the factory before production ended early in 1963. A basic 300 SL Roadster cost $10,950 at launch in the USA, compared to an Aston Martin DB4 at $9,770, the BMW 507 at $9,000 and a Ferrari 250 GT California Spider at $11,600. Owners included Steve McQueen, Clark Gable, Yul Brunner, Tony Curtis, Gunther Sachs and of course Juan Manuel Fangio.

Colours are always subjective, but ubiquitous Fire Engine Red is unfavoured and silver always safe, while greens, blues and darker greys sit at the top of most collectors’ wish lists: liveries such as this Graphitgrau (Graphite Grey) 300 SL Roadster delivered new to Switzerland.

THIS MOTOR CAR

Documents that accompany the car note the first owner as Peter C. Beer, 16 Rue Crespin, Contamines, a high-class neighbourhood in central Geneva. Research by Kidston in late 2025 revealed his full name as Peter Christian Beer, born in Vienna on 15 October 1920. His father, Richard Beer, was an attorney.

The yellow ‘Commande d’un Véhicule’ (vehicle order form), dated 26 January 1959 and filled out by hand in French by official agent Etoile Auto SA of Geneva, notes a total price of 32,500 DM (Deutschmarks) ex-factory in Stuttgart. Beer paid a deposit of $2,000 to secure the car.

The final typed invoice from Daimler-Benz dated 17 February 1959 reconfirms the price of 32,500 DM, with the following additional charges:
• Becker Mexico radio (680 DM)
• Electric aerial (140 DM)
• 1kg paint (10 DM)
• Antifreeze (48 DM)
• Carnet de Passage and other documents (100 DM)
• Liability insurance for 3 months (155.90 DM)

There is one further notation: Sonderausführung USA, or ‘special version USA’. Empfangsbescheinigung number 33 (receipt no. 33) notes a payment of 25,000 DM, the balance due.

Interestingly, the initial Swiss ‘Commande d’un Véhicule’ states DB 190 Graphite Grey for the car’s exterior colour and notes an interior of 1060 Cream leather. The final Daimler-Benz invoice some three weeks later records Polsterung Leder rot: red leather upholstery. Mr Beer had clearly changed his mind in the interim, and this remains the specification of the car today. Also noted are Continental Super Record tyres and 3.89 back axle ratio.

Our research suggests Beer was a high-ranking intelligence officer in the United States Army when he bought the Mercedes. The original blue service book that accompanies the 300 SL Roadster has the following handwritten entries:
• 358 miles. A Service. 16/2/1959. Daimler-Benz.
• 2,027 miles. B Service. Undated, McNey Motors, Washington, DC, USA.
• 3,793 miles. D Service. Undated, Foreign Auto Service, 2612, Duke St, Alexandria, Virginia, USA.
• 5,430 miles. C Service. Undated, Foreign Auto Service, 2612, Duke St, Alexandria, Virginia, USA.
• 7,394 miles. D Service. Undated, Foreign Auto Service, 2612, Duke St, Alexandria, Virginia, USA.
• 9,395 miles. C Service. Undated, Foreign Auto Service, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
• 11,372 miles. E Service. Undated, Foreign Auto Service, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
• 13,758 miles. C Service. Undated, Foreign Auto Service, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
• 17,093 miles. C Service. Indecipherable but annotated “ Dec 10, 63”.
• 19,543 miles. D Service. 21/9/1964. Indecipherable.
• 20,784 miles. C Service. Indecipherable but annotated “Jun 5, 65”.
• 22,315 miles. E Service. Indecipherable but annotated “May 9, 65, NEW TIRES”.
• 24,150 miles. C Service. Indecipherable but annotated “7-28-66”.
• 26,000 miles. D Service. Daimler-Benz, Untertürkheim, Germany. Annotated “Nov 1970”.
• 26,800 miles. “Mar. Concess. (oil change)” – taken as the British Ferrari dealership Maranello Concessionaires – “Dec 10, 1970”

In summer 1962 Peter Beer had taken delivery of a silver steel Ferrari 250 GT SWB (chassis 3487 GT) via Luigi Chinetti Motors of New York. The Ferrari was registered in the state of Virginia on 5 June that year. It can be reasonably assumed that Beer and his grey 300 SL Roadster had crossed the Atlantic within a year or so of the car’s collection from Stuttgart. The history of the Ferrari notes periods in Virginia, then Cleveland, Ohio. By 1970 Beer, his Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster and Ferrari 250 SWB had moved to the UK, where the American would spend the rest of his life.

Now carrying the British registration ‘EMM 101J’, the 300 SL Roadster is photographed undergoing an extensive engine and gearbox rebuild in December 2008. The body and interior appear untouched. A 2004 British licensing document for ‘EMM 101J’ confirms Beer’s address as 20 Broom Water West, Teddington TW11, a smart suburb close to the River Thames.

Peter Beer died in the UK on 17 April 2005 aged 84. Just prior to his death, in the early 2000s he sold the car to a Belgian dealer who remembers the American as friendly and enthusiastic, despite his years. He also owned a Dino 246. It was then sold again to a European individual before arriving at German marque and model specialist HK Engineering who refurbished what was still an original, but now tired 300 SL.

Our Swiss client, a family office founder and ardent collector, purchased the car from German marque and model specialist HK Engineering in March 2012. Their sale invoice states “1 Vorbesitzer” (one previous owner) and “originale Laufleistung 80,000km” (original mileage 80,000km).

During our client’s ownership the car has been looked after on an almost annual basis by preeminent German 300 SL expert HK for in-depth detailed work and by Zürich sales and service specialist Lukas Hüni for regular maintenance. Odometer readings of 82,391 on 6 July 2016 and 85,743 on 9 August 2023 are in line with previous readings and tally with HK’s representation of that being the distance covered from new. Today, the instrument reads 88,215km.

In late-summer 2025, HK carried out a comprehensive ‘gross’ service that included work on the dampers, braking system, steering and cooling system. Five new Continental tyres were fitted. The bill dated 2 October 2025 totalled €30,358.13. It has covered little distance since, making it totally ‘ready to go’ in the hands of a new owner.

An independent inspection commissioned in December 2025 by Kidston SA from worldwide 300 SL expert Sebastian Hoffman of TüV, the authoritative German testing organisation, confirmed the following as original: chassis number, body number, engine number, frame number, differential number, dashboard/glovebox lid numbers, both front axle numbers, steering gear number. The gearbox is “an original exchange unit supplied by Mercedes-Benz”.

The car comes with its original red Ersatzteilelist (spare parts list), Becker radio handbook and catalogue, Hirschmann antenna manual, red Type 300 SL Roadster Catalog >>A<< (handbook), green first German Internationaler Zulassungsschein (registration document) dated 11 February 1959, red Type 300 SL Roadster Owners Manual, blue Kundendienst (customer service book). To see one or two of these rare books is unusual, to find that each one – in effect a ‘complete set’ – remained with the car for 67 years is extraordinary. The paint and leather interior are largely original. There is also a set of fitted luggage, tools and hard top.

Mercedes-Benz 300 SLs, Coupés and Roadsters, have long been considered ‘gold standard’ collectors’ cars. In recent years, the gulf between non-original, everyday examples of indifferent provenance and colour, and best-of-the-best ones in good, ‘as-delivered’ specification with unbroken history, has widened. For those seeking the latter, this is the car for you.