Classic

Mille Miglia Crash Claims Life of Mercedes Gullwing

Words John Clark | May 20, 2014
During the annual Mille Miglia, a Mercedes-Benz Gullwing, valued at around $1.1 million got smashed up
Words John Clark May 20, 2014

The annual Mille Miglia vintage-car rally concluded this weekend in Italy, and as always, it was a colorful spectacle of important, rare, and classic automobiles being driven as they were intended instead of sitting on display like garage queens. Like any motorsports event, the Mille Miglia is not without risk—participants share public roads with regular traffic.

Other drivers? They’re wild cards, and accidents happen, as did to the No. 419 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing driven by Konstantin Sixt, heir to the Sixt rental-car fortune.

Bild reports that Sixt’s SL was struck head-on by a BMW 1 Series driven by a French volleyball coach. Here’s the good news: Reports indicate none of the injuries sustained by those involved were serious, and all are recovering.

The bad news? The Gullwing, valued at around $1.1 million (€800,000), really got hammered, as you can see in this video taken of the aftermath. If you’re an enthusiast, this one’s tough to look at:

Via: Road and Track