Mercedes SL does not really qualify as a great spot worthy of a dedicated post. But when we’re talking about a celebratory special edition built to mark a historic event, that’s a different story. This rare Mercedes SL Mille Miglia 417 Edition was spotted the other day at a car meet in America.

Before we get to the details of Mercedes SL Mille Miglia 417 Edition and what makes it special, we should give you a brief history lesson on the name. The car celebrates unexpected victory of a 300 SL in the production sports cars class at the 1955 “Mille Miglia”, one of the world’s most challenging long-distance races. As for the 417, well, that is both an homage to the racing number of that car, 417, and the face that the race started at 4:17 am.

This particular Mercedes SL Mille Miglia 417 Edition is based on the SL500 (550 in America) with a 455 horsepower engine. The car also came as a V6 in the SL400 model powered by a 333 horsepower unit.

The unique visual features of the SL Mille Miglia edition include stylish red highlights found on the front spoiler, red trim strip on the rear spoiler against matte carbon, red brake callipers, black AMG Performance wheels with red surrounds measuring 19 inches at the front and 20 inches at the rear, and a special magnetite black metallic paint finish. Optionally the two designo night black magno and designo cashmere white magno matte paint finishes or the designo diamond white bright shiny paintwork are also available.

Photos by Bennett Lunceford Photography