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Mercedes 300 SL W198 Gullwing Silver Minichamps 1:18

-14%
Mercedes 300 SL W198 Gullwing Silver Minichamps 1:18 110037210 Diecast
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Minichamps' 1:18 diecast Mercedes 300 SL W198 Gullwing in silver reproduces the 1955 coupe built on Mercedes' tubular spaceframe chassis, complete with the upward-swinging doors the design demanded. Direct fuel injection and racing-derived engineering made the original a landmark road car, and this zinc alloy diecast gives the gullwing mechanism genuine hinge-and-swing presence on the shelf. A cornerstone piece for any vintage Mercedes collection.
Mercedes 300 SL W198 Gullwing Silver Minichamps 1:18
Regular price: £97.00 Current price: £83.00 -14%

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Only 4 units left
Estimated delivery: 02-04.09.2026
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Specifications
Car Brand
Mercedes
Model Manufacturer
Minichamps
Scale
1:18
Material
Diecast
Model Condition
New Model
SKU
110037210
Genuine articles Sourced from manufacturers
5-layer carton Foam-filled interior
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About the Mercedes 300 SL W198 Gullwing Silver Minichamps 1:18

TL;DR: Minichamps' 1:18 diecast Mercedes 300 SL W198 Gullwing in silver reproduces the 1955 coupe built on Mercedes' tubular spaceframe, complete with the upward-swinging doors the chassis design demanded. Direct fuel injection and racing-derived engineering made the original a landmark road car, and this diecast gives the gullwing mechanism genuine working presence on the shelf.

The Gullwing doors were never a styling flourish. Mercedes' engineers needed them because the 300 SL's tubular spaceframe ran too high at the sills for conventional doors, and that constraint produced one of the most recognisable silhouettes in automotive history.

The 300 SL Gullwing and Its Spaceframe Doors

From W194 Racer to Road-Going Icon

The road-going 300 SL descended directly from the W194 racing car that Mercedes campaigned in 1952, taking class honours at Le Mans and winning the Carrera Panamericana outright that same year. Max Hoffman, the American importer who understood the US market's appetite for exotic machinery, pushed Mercedes to build a production version, and the car debuted at the New York International Motor Sports Show in February 1954. Mercedes built only a limited run of the Gullwing coupe before switching production to the Roadster, and that short production window is part of why the coupe remains the more sought-after body style among collectors today. That racing lineage explains details the road car kept: the tubular spaceframe chassis, the low, sloping bonnet, and the doors cut high into the roof because the frame's side rails left no room for a conventional hinge lower down.

Fuel Injection and Performance in Period

Mercedes fitted the 300 SL with direct fuel injection, a first for a series production car, adapted from the direct-injected engines the company had raced before the war. That system helped the 3.0-litre straight-six produce enough power to make the 300 SL genuinely fast for its era, capable of outrunning most contemporaries in a straight line depending on the final drive fitted. Combined with the spaceframe's light weight, the result was a car that felt as quick as it looked, and that performance, alongside the doors, is what separated the 300 SL from other elegant coupes of the 1950s.

Minichamps' Diecast Take on the Gullwing Doors

Silver Paintwork and Panel Fit

Minichamps applies the silver finish with genuine metallic depth, catching light differently across the long bonnet and the car's distinctive louvred front fenders, and silver sits naturally on a 300 SL given Mercedes' long-standing association with silver-liveried racing machinery. Panel gaps around the doors, so critical on a car defined by an unusual door mechanism, stay tight and even, and the chrome trim around the windows and grille is picked out cleanly rather than left as a single painted strip. Zinc alloy construction gives the model real weight, appropriate for a car whose original appeal rested partly on solid, serious engineering.

Hinge Engineering for an Upward-Swinging Door

Reproducing a gullwing door at 1:18 scale is a genuine engineering task rather than a simple opening panel, since the door has to swing upward and outward on a roof-mounted hinge rather than the sideways arc every conventional car door uses. Minichamps' hinge holds the door open at a realistic angle without drooping, and the action has enough resistance to feel deliberate rather than loose, a detail that matters given how central the doors are to this subject's appeal. The cabin visible once the doors are raised carries mapped seats and a legible dashboard, rewarding the extra attention the opening mechanism draws. It is the single feature this model has to get right, and it does.

A Cornerstone Piece for a Vintage Mercedes Shelf

At around 22 centimetres long, the 300 SL fits comfortably among other 1950s sports coupes on a standard shelf, though the raised doors need extra vertical clearance if displayed open, worth checking against cabinet height before choosing that pose. Alongside the later 300 SL Roadster, which swapped the gullwing doors for conventional ones when spaceframe revisions allowed, this coupe represents the purer, more dramatic expression of Mercedes' 1950s engineering. For a vintage Mercedes collection built around genuine landmark cars rather than simply old ones, a well-executed Gullwing in a classic colour is close to essential.

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Original price was: £97.00.Current price is: £83.00.
Original price was: £97.00.Current price is: £83.00.
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