On December 6, 1955, Friedrich Nallinger and Rudolf Uhlenhaut received U.S. Patent No. D176278 on the design of an automobile.

The patent covers the production version of the 300 SL race car. The production version of the 300 SL debuted in 1955 with a sleeker and more stylish body, but the same gull wing doors of its race car predecessor. The production 300 SL had a tilt steering wheel. It also had fule injection, and to accommodate the fuel injectors, a raised ridge had to be formed in the hood of the 300 SL, and to maintain a second, parallel raised ridge was formed in the hood as shown in the design patent above.