Thanks to recent findings, the Mercedes 190 SL can now officially take part in the modern Mille Miglia event.
The privilege for entering the modern Mille Miglia event is reserved only for cars that participated in the original and historic race of Mille Miglia, held from 1927 to 1957. This is a crucial factor for many classic car enthusiasts and, as it was recently discovered, a Mercedes 190 SL was privately entered in the 1956 race and thus joined the club of authorized vehicles to take part in the event.
That particular Mercedes car was entered in the 1956 Mille Miglia race by the French team of Michel Bianco and Jean Loup Pellecuer with the starting number 347, finishing in 121st place overall after 16 hours, 6 minutes and 15 seconds. The reason no one so far was unaware of its participation in the race was because the official reports issued by the Brescia Automobile Club at the time referred to the specific vehicle only as a Mercedes, without specifying the model designation.
“We are delighted to have another Mercedes-Benz model for the Mille Miglia. This means that even more of the brand’s aficionados will now have the opportunity to participate in the event”, said Michael Bock, Head of Mercedes-Benz Classic and the Customer Center. “The last few years have seen a dramatic increase in the popularity of the 190 SL as a collector’s car. It is as desirable as the many other sought-after Mercedes-Benz vehicles.”
The fact that the Mercedes 190 SL is now an official Mille Miglia car means that values are likely to rise even further for the open-top brother of the original Gullwing, so if you were looking into buying into one of these beautiful two-seater Benzes, you’d better hurry.
PHOTO GALLERY
