The Mercedes Jay Leno uncovered was so rare even Mercedes forgot about it

  • This is a rare iteration of the Mercedes Gullwing
  • Only 29 were built
  • Even Mercedes couldn’t keep perfect track of what happened to these vehicles

Published on May 14, 2025 at 7:10 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis

Last updated on May 14, 2025 at 7:12 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by Tom Wood

In a new video uploaded to his channel, Jay Leno showed his viewers a super-rare 1956 Mercedes-Benz Alloy Gullwing.

This car is so rare that even Mercedes hasn’t properly kept track of all the 29 examples that were built.

This one was part of the car collection of Rudi Klein, a famed collector in Los Angeles.

It is incredibly expensive but, amazingly, it isn’t the most expensive Gullwing Mercedes ever made.

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The Alloy Gullwing was a slightly less refined, more performance-focused iteration of the Mercedes Gullwing, a vehicle that’s indirectly related to the record-breaking Mercedes-Benz that sold for nine figures.

This one is a little less expensive than that, but still reserved for people with several zeros in their net worth.

The model you see here is worth around $10 million.

That’s a lot of money, but less than one-tenth of the price of a 300 SL.

Built entirely out of aluminum, the 1956 Mercedes-Benz Alloy Gullwing uses a 3.0-liter engine capable of producing 215 horsepower.

In Jay Leno’s view, as he explained in the video on his YouTube channel, this is the world’s first supercar, not the Lamborghini Miura.

As crazy as it sounds, this probably wasn’t even the wildest car featured on Jay Leno’s YouTube channel.

The TV personality has been focusing on YouTube channel (and stand-up shows) after his retirement, and he regularly gives his viewers a glimpse into his car collection, which comprises at least 300 cars.

He drives all sorts of vehicles, from classic icons to the new Tesla Model Y Juniper, which he drove before anyone else.

It’s difficult to get an exact figure when it comes to the value of his collection, but it’s probably well north of $50 million.

Even though, as Leno himself pointed out on more than one occasion, he’s been acquiring vehicles for decades and most of his cars were a lot cheaper when he first bought them.

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Experienced content creator with a strong focus on cars and watches. Alessandro penned the first-ever post on the Supercar Blondie website and covers cars, watches, yachts, real estate and crypto. Former DriveTribe writer, fixed gear bike owner, obsessed with ducks for some reason.