“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” Alan Kay (born 1940), Computer Scientist In 1954, decades of incremental technological development, design, and success on the racetrack by Mercedes-Benz—inventor of the automobile and the dominant brand in automotive innovation—culminated with the launch of the most iconic car of all time, the 300 SL “Gullwing.” Instantly changing the game, it shifted the paradigm in automotive design and performance forever.

After names such as Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio, racing heroes indelibly etched into the automotive history books, had achieved unprecedented success in competition with the 300 SLR (W196S), Rudolf Uhlenhaut’s engineering brilliance saw these pure racecars take production form in the 300 SL “Gullwing” Coupe of 1954.

The 300 SL was a fully road-legal production car, yes, but it was also so much more than that: Beneath its shapely skin was an Uhlenhaut-designed, racing-style tubular chassis, and its styling fundamenta...