The Riveting Story Of The Pakistani Gullwing!

Chassis W198.040.5500113 was a 1954 Mercedes 300SL Gullwing originally finished in a black exterior with a red interior and rudge knock-off wheels which came to Pakistan to a Filipino diplomat serving in the country at the time.

Within the next decade, the car was sold to a prominent business man, Hasan Javeri, and the earliest pictures of the car appear where it is white and bears the registration KAA-5133 and Mrs. Javeri is photographed with the car with its iconic gullwing doors open.

Mr. Javeri sold this car to the Magsi family with the car white and registration KAA-5133 as can be clearly seen in a picture with a young Saifullah Magsi in the car.

The car was then sold to Mr. Ayazuddin in Karachi and in 1975, the gullwing was registered with the Gullwing Club of America with the same chassis number (5500113) and the current colour listed as white and the interior as blue.

The gullwing was next seen in pictures alongside a Jaguar E-type from the mid-70s, but was silver with the registration KAF-5711.
The car fell into a state of disrepair and by the mid 70s, it was given to Mr. Shujatullah, who was a friend of Mr. Ayazuddin. The car caught fire and the owner sold it to Mr. Latif. It required a ground-up restoration and was painted red when it was sent to Freiburg, Germany for restoration in 1982.

The car was not restored and travelled to Switzerland and then sold to a collector in the United States where it still is.

There is a divide between most enthusiasts in Pakistan who claim that there were 2 different cars based on the different registration numbers, KAA-5133 and KAF-5711. Changing registration numbers used to be a common occurrence in Pakistan so let’s focus on the chassis number.

When the car was registered with the Gullwing club in 1975 its colour was listed as white, chassis as 5500113 and surprisingly registration was KAF-5711! Therefore KAF-5711 was white BEFORE it was silver pointing to the fact that they were the same car.

Mercedes, Freiburg also confirm that chassis 5500113 was in Germany in 1982-83 and that is the fascinating yet gloomy story of the Pakistani Gullwing.
It really would be remarkable if the car can be tracked down with the help of Drivetribe, and the latest pictures can be shared with the Pakistani classic cars community.

Credit for the pictures and research goes to @classiccarspakistan on Instagram.