VIN: the Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan Mercedes-Benz W198 300 SL Gullwing chassis 198.040.4500008
History of chassis 198.040.4500008
Chassis 198.040.4500008 was the eighth 300 SL Gullwing built. Painted Silver Grey, it was delivered to its first owner, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, in late 1954.
Prince Sadruddin was the son of Aga Khan III (Sultan Mahomed Shah), one of the world’s wealthiest royals and the 48th Imam of the Nizari Ismaili religion. Of Iranian descent, Aga Khan III was born in Karachi (in what was then British India). He held British, Indian and British Raj nationality.
The Prince was born in France to the Aga Khan III’s third wife, Andree Josephine Carron, a Parisian dressmaker. He inherited dual French and Iranian citizenship.
Initially educated in Switzerland, the 21 year old Prince reputedly had chassis ‘08’ delivered to his place of study at Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was subsequently taken back to Europe and kept at the Prince’s Collonge-Bellerive residence on the outskirts of Geneva.
In 1955, Prince Sadruddin met Anglo-Indian fashion model, Nina Dyer.
Nina Dyer was also a lover of fine motor cars; in 1953, her first husband, the multi-millionaire Baron Hans Heinrich von Thussen Bornemisza, had gifted her a customised Ferrari 250 Mille Miglia Berlinetta (chassis 0388 MM).
Prince Sadruddin drove his Gullwing far and wide; it is depicted here in the snow outside the Palace Hotel, in Gstaad. The Prince also drove it to Paris in July 1957 to attend the funeral of his father.
A month after his father’s death, Prince Sadruddin married Nina Dyer; he gave her a red Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet as a wedding gift (0709 GT).
How long Prince Sadruddin retained chassis ‘08’ is unclear.
During the first half of the 1960s he purchased several Italian exotics to include a Ferrari 400 Superamerica Coupe Aerodinamico (4111 SA), a Ferrari 500 Superfast (6049 SF) and a Maserati 5000 GT (060).
In more recent years, the Gullwing has been restored by its German owner and displayed at concours events around Europe.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Mercedes-Benz - https://www.mercedes-benz.com
