In 1952 Mercedes built the W194 (300 SL ( 300 denoting 3 litre and SL meaning Sport-Leicht or Sport Light in English)) for sports car and endurance racing around the world.
Max Hoffman, the importer of Mercedes-Benz for the United States, saw the potential success of a high performance sports car with a Mercedes badge on it in America’s post war economic boom and suggested a road going version of the W194.
Thus the W198 300 SL Gullwing was born. It was largely based off of the racing car so the chassis was tube framed, but with the help of mechanical fuel injection was actually more powerful than the W194 race car (215-240bhp in the W198 to 175bhp in the W194). It weighed 1295KG, would hit 160mph and would do 0-60 in 8.8 seconds which was ballistic at the time.
Some argue that the 300SL is the world’s first super car. I personally think that title goes to Jaguar’s XK120, but that’s not to throw shade at the 300SL. They are beautiful, beautiful cars!
This one was acquired by it’s owner in 1988 but has been off of the road for 30 years. It’s recently received some light recommissioning so the owner can enjoy it once more.
I’ve also just noticed the number plate. How much do you reckon that’s worth?
The 300SL Roadster followed in 1956 with the Californian market in mind.
The 190SL offered the 300SL aesthetics but without the hefty price tag. Mechanically these were based on the W121 190 saloon car, Internally at Mercedes Benz they were referred to as the W121 BII.
In the 1960s there was the ‘Pagoda’ SL, which was massively popular. There was meant to be one on display but it was sadly missing the day that I went.
The R107 followed the Pagoda in 1971. This car had a production run all the way up to 1989 and over 300,000 were built!
Then in 1989 came the R129 which was technologically a huge step up from the R107. It featured the world’s first fully automatic soft top. Also, I do love a Bruno Sacco design!
Then came the R230 with the refreshed design that came to be in the very late 1990s.
This particular is an SL55 AMG which is a bit of a brute with 493 horsepower.
The SLR (Sport Leicht Rennsport (Sport Light Racing)) was a collaborative project between Mercedes Benz and McLaren. It was sold from 2003 to 2010.
This is a ‘722 Edition’ built to commemorate Stirling Moss’ 1955 Mille Miglia win in a 300SLR numbered 722.
The SLS (Super Leicht Sport) came just after the SLR and was designed with the assistance of F1 driver David Coulthard. It has the proper gullwing doors too which I remember being so happy about when it came out!
Finally we have the R321 SL63 AMG. It’s a lovely car. The original SL63 was limited to 155mph but this one has the Performance Package that bumps that up to 186mph which is crazy. Did I also mention the 0-60 time is 4 seconds?
I’ve never properly forgiven AMG for the naming of this car though. It’s a 5.5 litre twin turbo V8, not a 6.3 as the name would suggest. I know it seems trivial but AMG’s first car – Rote Sau, a 300 SEL 6.3 – had a 6.3 litre V8. That’s the engine the 63s should have haha!
Thanks for reading.
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By Richard Francis
