There are car stories that don't need exaggerations to get exciting. The case of the blue Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster owned by Piraeus industrialist and politician Kriton Delaveris is one of them.
The events have been recorded since 2011 and this Mercedes has left the ownership of the Municipality of Piraeus for almost fifteen years. About Protothema.gr had been mentioned since...
Kriton Delaveris and the legacy in Piraeus
Kriton Diaveris was born in Piraeus in 1894 and died in 1972. He was an industrialist and politician, with a significant presence in the city's economic and public life. He was elected MP of Piraeus in 1935, 1936 and 1946, while he was married to Athena, sister of the great Greek actress Katinas Paxinos.
After his death, his property passed to the Municipality of Piraeus. Among the assets was an extremely important car: a 1960 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster. These data have also been recorded in a report by the Athenian-Macedonian News Agency, with the journalist Paris Cirigotis, which referred to the property of Kriton Delaveris and its use by the Municipality of Piraeus.
The specific report of the APE-APE is of particular importance, as it confirms that Mercedes was auctioned by the Municipality and that the revenues were used for the reconstruction of the Delaveris Park.
Decades of stillness
After Delaver's death the car did not continue to circulate. It remained for decades in a place owned or used by the Municipality of Piraeus.
Reports of the time say that 300 SL had essentially remained immobilized since the early 1970s. Other later sources place the billboard deposit in 1974. Therefore, the safest wording is that the car remained out of circulation for about four decades rather than that «discovered suddenly» after 40 years.
This matters, because another thing is an unknown car that is discovered today by accident in an abandoned site and another asset of the Municipality, whose existence was known and for which it was finally decided to pursue a sales process.
The 2011 auction
In 2011 the Municipality of Piraeus decided to proceed to auction the historic Mercedes. The process took place at the Beakion Theatre in 13 October 2011. The starting value was set at EUR 240 000, amount already particularly high for data at that time, but absolutely justified by the rarity of the car.
Interest proved great and the final offer reached EUR 405,000.
The car was acquired by the German collector who in the reports of the time is referred to as Rajna/Rayan Hildebrandt, who was already a friend and collector of Mercedes-Benz 300 SL. Reportage published immediately after the auction even reported that he already owned other cars in the same family.
The price of 405,000 euros is not a later estimate. It is already listed in its publications 14 October 2011That is, right after the auction. In the later report of Paris Tsirigotis, the RES-ERI reports a rounded amount of approximately 400,000 euros and records that the money was made available for the reconstruction of Delaveris Park.
Why is 300 SL so important?
And here lies the essence of history. The 300 SL is one of the most important models ever built by the German company. Roadster was presented in 1957 as the open version of the legendary 300 SL Gullwing and remained in production until 1963.
According to the official historical data of Mercedes-Benz, a total of just 1.858 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster throughout its production period. It had a six-cylinder in a 2,996 cm engine series. with direct spraying, power that Mercedes-Benz refers to 215 hp in the factory specifications of the particular series and top speed which, depending on transmission, could reach 250 km/h.
For a 1950s and early 1960s car, these elements were excellent. The 300 SL did not acquire collectible value in retrospect because it simply became old. It was a technologically advanced and expensive car already when it was new.
Of Piraeus' 405,000 euros in over 1 million
The amount of 405,000 euros paid in 2011 is currently low compared to the prices at which the corresponding 300 SL Roadster internationally changes hands.
We cannot, of course, arbitrarily attribute specific value today. in the car of Delaveris, without knowing for sure his current condition, the restoration he may have accepted, the originality of his engineers and his full history after 2011.
But we can see what is happening in the real international market. In 2025 a 1960 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster was sold by Gooding Christie’s for $1,028 million, while another of the same year of construction was sold by RM Sotheby’s to Monterey for $1,1325 million.
And in 2026 the image remains similar. Recorded auction results show 1960 300 SL Roadster changing hands for about $1.02 million, while other cars in the series, depending on year, history and condition, move even higher.
This does not mean that the former Mercedes of the Municipality of Piraeus «It's worth so much today.». It means that the international market has now placed the good, authentic and properly restored 300 SL Roadster in the region of one million euros or dollars or more. And this is a much more interesting dimension of history than a title about «treasure found in a dark basement».
A true Greek car history
The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster of Kriton Delaveris does not need to be «discovered» Every few years to continue to be news. It is a part of the history of Piraeus and at the same time a rare Greek history around one of the world's most important collectible cars.
A 1960 construction car passed through the hands of an important Piraeus industrialist in the city's Municipality, remained for decades immobilized, went out at a public auction in 2011 with an initial price of 240,000 euros and was eventually sold for 405,000 euros to a German collector.
The money returned, in a way, to the city itself through the redevelopment of the Delaver Park. And fifteen years later, in 2026, models of corresponding chronology and specifications are sold internationally for amounts exceeding one million. These are the real facts.
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