1981 Mercedes-benz 380sl Base Convertible 2-door 3.8l-mint-has Both Tops on 2040-cars

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Clark Gable's 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing doesn't sell, then does sell for $1.85 million [UPDATE: w/video]

How much extra value does previous celebrity ownership add to of a car? Really, there's no way to know until the car in question hits the auction block and bidders start raising their hands. In the case of the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing you see above, the celebrity owner is none other than Clark Gable, who purchased it new. After Gable's death in 1960, the car changed hands a few times before settling with Charles Wood in 1975.
A high-dollar restoration was performed in 1989, and period accessories added by Gable himself were kept in place, including the Rudge knock-off wheels and Nardi steering wheel. Any Mercedes-Benz 300SL is worth a big chunk of money. In the case of Clark Gable's old Gullwing, the bidding stalled at $1.9 million here at the 2013 Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale. As one of the 5000-series cars, this 300SL carried a reserve, and a bit of after-the-fact dealmaking saw the car change hands for $1.85 million.
You can see our high-res image gallery above, and the car's official auction description below.

Time to catch up with Jay Leno's Garage, including his Lamborghini Espada restoration

If you're already jealous of the time, effort and money that Jay Leno can devote to his massive car collection, prepare to get a little greener with envy with this latest video from Jay Leno's Garage. Instead of the usual format of discussing a model for about ten minutes and then taking it out for a test drive, this week Leno gives viewers on a tour of over a dozen projects concurrently happening in his stable. The breadth of the vehicles shown and the things being done to them run the entire span of the automotive hobby. At the same time, Jay's shop is working on just a simple restoration of his 1969 Lamborghini Espada (pictured), and at the other side of the building, the team is rebuilding a wood-bodied 1914 Detroit Electric from scratch. He eventually plans to slot a more modern electric drivetrain into it. If bikes are more your interest, there's a freshly completed Brough Superior just waiting for a ride, and if American models are your thing, a Ford Bronco is getting a Coyote V8 installed into it. You have some very specific tastes if you can't watch this clip and start wishing at least one of these vehicles could be in your own garage. Other than the personal projects his mechanics are working on in the shop, Jay gets to have them all, plus plenty more.

Mercedes-Maybach SL 680 Monogram Series gives the rich and famous what they want

TOPANGA, Calif. – Give the people what they want, right? Especially if they're extremely wealthy. And possibly famous.  Apparently, the requests for a convertible Maybach from existing owners and/or celebrities were so frequent and insistent that the uber-luxury offshoot of Mercedes-Benz finally decided to give them just that. The 2025 Mercedes-Maybach SL 680 Monogram Series answers the call. While all other Maybachs are based on a Mercedes-Benz, this is the first Maybach to be based on a car developed by AMG: the current-generation SL 55 and SL 63. This presented a greater challenge to engineers than past efforts. Although a sportier Maybach was intended (as opposed to modern Maybach's first drop-top effort, the Maybach S 650 Cabriolet), the SL 680 is, not surprisingly, seeking a much different dynamic end goal than its AMG-only cousins. According to Maybach product manager Hannes Meyer, the far shorter wheelbase than the Maybach norm was a particular challenge in making sure that its convertible offering maintained "the same ease and nearly floating driving experience" expected of the brand. To that end, the Maybach SL shares the SL 63's air suspension and trick AMG Active Control interconnected hydraulically controlled dampers, but the tuning is changed, especially with the rear air springs as the driver sits closer to those. Meyer says the damper valves in particular have a greater range between sportiness and comfort than the SL 63. The steering system is totally Maybach-specific, including a different ratio and more upright front camber, resulting in what Meyer described as a more stable and less aggressive setup than what you'd find in the SL 63.  Before you start looking for a 6.8-liter engine in the Mercedes arsenal, remember that those numbers don't really mean anything anymore. The Maybach SL 680 has exactly the same 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 as the SL 63 good for 577 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque. The nine-speed AMG transmission is the same in terms of hardware, but it has totally different software. In particular, the 2-3 and 3-4 shifts are most different in order to provide a smoother, more Maybach acceleration experience. The 4Matic+ all-wheel-drive system is also shared, but is programmed to have a more balanced front-to-rear power split than the rear-biased AMG. Finally, the exhaust has been retuned. Meyer said that up to 2,800 rpm, the exhaust isn't quieter than what you'd experience in the AMGs, it just has a different tone.