Barrett-Jackson, the World’s Greatest Collector Car Auctions will offer Clark Gable’s 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe at its Scottsdale auction as part of the Salon Collection on January 19, 2013.
Gable personally bought the two-seater sports car at Mercedes-Benz of Hollywood with his fifth wife, Kay Williams Spreckel, and he cherished it for five years before his passing in 1960. What makes it more even more important is said to have carried some of top Hollywood’s sex symbols, such as Marilyn Monroe, Vivien Liegh and Ava Gardner.
“Gable’s 300SL is a stunning vehicle on its own, but it’s the pedigree that comes with it that really makes this Mercedes one-of-a-kind,” said Steve Davis, Barrett-Jackson president.
This vintage car, one of 1,400 that Mercedes built from 1954-57, belongs to the collection of Robert Howard of Oklahoma, and it was restored by Paul Russel and has been carefully maintained by Mercedes mechanics.
“Coming from the prestigious Robert Howard Collection it will be an honor to have this historic vehicle crossing our auction block and we can’t wait to share it with our Las Vegas and Scottsdale audiences,” Davis added.
In August, another one Gable’s car, a 1935 Duesenberg Model JN Convertible Coupe, which was known as the vehicle in which Gable and his third wife Carole Lombard, drove up the West Coast to Vancouver, crossed the block at Gooding & Company’s Pebble Beach auction. Despite bids that reached $6.4 million, the price failed to meet the current owner’s reserve, and the car was not sold. That car’s value was said to be in excess of $9 million by Gooding & Company.
