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Mercedes SL

The Mercedes SL is sixty

The presentation of the latest Mercedes SL generation was also a birthday celebration… the roadster model is now sixty years old and we look back on its history. (Jessica Fischer , 21.01.2012)

From the track to the highway

This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the Mercedes SL model range, a range which had its origins in motor sport. The 300 SL of the W194 series was first built in 1952. This was a car which brought for Mercedes the kind of competition results from which an automotive legend can be born. Among the achievements were second and fourth placings in the Mille Miglia, a double victory at the 24 hours race in Le Mans, four triumphs at sports car races on the Nürburgring and a double win at the Panamericana across Mexico. It was this racing machine which served as the basis for both the series sports car model 300 SL and the 190 SL shown for the first time by Mercedes at the International Motor Sports Show in New York in 1954. The cars were nothing short of a sensation. Both the tubular trellis frame and the astonishing gull-wing doors were much admired by the general public and the professional press. The 300 SL of the W198 series was offered as a coupé while the W121 190 SL came configured as a roadster. From 1957 there was also a roadster variant of the 300 SL available. These autos were the foundation on which a robust edifice was built in succeeding years, with cars carrying the initials ‘SL’ taken from motor sport and meaning ‘Super Light’.

: One of the most talked-about launches at the Geneva Salon is 1963 was the newest SL. The roof shape seemed to be inspired by Oriental temple architecture and the W113 was known as the ‘Pagoda’.

Asian influences

One of the most talked-about launches at the Geneva Salon is 1963 was the newest SL. This roadster was to replace both the 300 SL and the 190 SL and so it was a car with a huge legacy responsibility. The roof shape was original and seemed to be inspired by Oriental temple architecture and so it came to pass that the W113 was known as the ‘Pagoda’. It had been conceived as a very comfortable two-seater with excellent driving performance and was offered in three variants…. There was a hardtop convertible, and soft-top alternative and a hardtop coupé. This generation retained the characteristic large three-pointed star with pride of place on the radiator grille. The Pagoda models were based on the floor assembly of the W111 ‘Tail Fin’ auto, the first in the world to have an integrated crumple zone and a high-strength passenger cell. This had been the work of Béla Barény who had been responsible for many safety innovations introduced by Mercedes-Benz. As a result the W113 had a notably more rigid body and its own crumple-zone. The 2.3 six-litre beefed up engine also came from the ‘Tail Fin’ W111 and produced 150 horsepower. Built from 1963 through 1971 there were forty-nine thousand Pagodas manufactured… a significant volume for a premium sports car model. Today the cars of the W113 series are much sought after by restorers and collectors on account of their overall high quality, their elegance and their refinement.

: The start of the seventies was marked by the R107 series autos, prominently featured in the popular American television series ‘Hart to Hart’. This was the first roadster to have an internal designation starting with an ‘R’ instead of a ‘W’.

Hart to Hart

The start of the seventies was marked by the R107 series autos, prominently featured in the popular American television series ‘Hart to Hart’. This was the first roadster to have an internal designation starting with an ‘R’ instead of a ‘W’. The series had another notable characteristic. The head of the carosserie department, Karl Wilfert, had taken an initiative of his own and come up with a development which he presented to management, determined to get their approval. The result was that this was the only SL model ever to be built in a ‘2 plus 2’ coupé configuration. From 1981 Mercedes added the variant SLC to their portfolio. Now the SL was already in production for eighteen years… apart from the G-Class no other model range had been built for so long… and the 107 series SL was given an expanded choice of motorizations. For the first time there could be eight-cylinder motors under the roadster’s bonnet. The top version was the SL 500 or the SLC 500. There was a 560, too, but this was exclusively for buyers in the American, Australian and Japanese markets. It was the 450 SLC 5.0 which was launched in 1978 as the only version to have on board the new five-litre light metal V8. This provided the basis for the rally cars which Mercedes entered in various events, from the East Africa Safari to the ‘Vuelta a la Americana Sud’, a mammoth rally of almost thirty thousand kilometres through no less than ten South American nations.

: There were many technology innovations in the R129 series, starting with highly stable integral seats, including a fully-automatic soft-top, a new suspension and automatically deploying roll-over bars. But this was by no means the end of the story… in terms of the motorizations Mercedes struck in new directions. With the R129 the manufacturer offered for the first time a twelve-cylinder power plant.

Tech leader in the nineties

At the salon in Geneva in 1989 Mercedes presented an SL model which had little to do with anything which had gone before. The head designer, Bruno Sacco, had been very busy indeed… with the new unfussy styling he had captured the ‘Zeitgeist’ of the premium automobile segment. Very quickly the production capacities of Mercedes had reached its limits and buyers were obliged to wait for years for the delivery of their SL. There were many technology innovations in the R129 series, starting with highly stable integral seats, including a fully-automatic soft-top, a new suspension and automatically deploying roll-over bars. But this was by no means the end of the story… in terms of the motorizations Mercedes struck out in new directions. With the R129 the manufacturer offered for the first time a twelve-cylinder power plant. In 1992 the latest top version, the SL 600, delivered a hefty 394 horsepower. And again for the first time there was an AMG-tuned version which could be ordered. It was in the summer of 2001 that production on the series R129 came to an end after twelve years and sales of a total of 204,940 units.

: It was in 2001 that the current SL generation with the internal designation R230 made its bow. The most significant innovation was the ‘Vario Roof’… for the first time in the history of the SL the roadster had an automatic retractable hardtop like that of the SLK. The photo shows the SL 65 AMG version.

Now with retractable hardtop

It was in 2001 that the current SL generation with the internal designation R230 made its bow. The most significant innovation was the ‘Vario Roof’… for the first time in the history of the SL the roadster had an automatic retractable hardtop like that of the SLK. The interior of the auto boasted every imaginable comfort… electrically adjustable seats with memory function, air conditioning, leather covered integral seats as well as a range of ne assistant systems. But all of these refinements implied no diminution of the car’s performance. The top version was at first the SL 500 and this was followed by the SL 55 AMG with 476 horsepower. In 2003 came the SL 600 with twelve-cylinder engine and a year later the SL 65 AMG with 612 horsepower. In 2008 and 2009 Mercedes demonstrated convincingly the sporting character of the SL when the SL 63 AMG was adopted as the official Safety Car for Formula One racing. At the Detroit Motor Show the car maker most recently displayed the new R231 generation of the SL which will in all probability go on sale from the month of March.

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With its gull-wing doors the 300 SL was the uncontested dream car of its era. Picture 1 of 8

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