Sport - Lightweight

It actually started out as a race car but Mercedes Benz found substantial success with a light weight sporty grand tourer (GT) that became a standard part of automotive line-up. In 1952 Mercedes had a fair amount of success on the track with what was dubbed the W-194. This pure race car was powered by a powered by a 3.0 L single overhead cam straight six engine. This success gave American auto dealer Max Hoffman an idea. He saw that post World War II Americans were buying up British sports cars and he managed to convince the powers that be in Stuttgart that a street version of their racer would sell quite well.

Given the marketing designation of SL, for Sportlich Leicht or Sport Lightweight in English, this car was dubbed the 300 for its 3.0 liter engine. It made its debut in 1954 and everyone was blown away not only by the performance but also by the innovative design that featured gullwing doors that opened up and out rather than to the side. Pretty much considered a race car for the street, the 300 SL could hit speeds of 160 miles per hour, making it the fastest production car in the world. Shortly after its introduction a drophead roadster version was introduced using the same mechanicals but moving, obviously, to standard door design.

Unfortunately for Mercedes, the cost of manufacturing the 300 SL in either guise caused the prices to be well beyond the basic target audience. Still, sniffing an opportunity, Mercedes created a somewhat smaller, less powerful and less luxurious version of the car. Using a 1.9 L inline four engine, the 190 SL did what they had hoped the 300 would do; it sold well. The 190 came out in 1955. By 1957 the 300 gullwing was no longer being manufactured. Both the 300 roadster and the 190 were continued through the 1963 model year.

With the success of the 190 Mercedes realized that they were onto something solid with these light weight sports cars. In 1963 they introduced a 2.3 L car that had a completely different look. With a low "waist line" and a tall roof, the 230 SL and its successors the 250 and the 280 got to be dubbed the Pagoda models by the automotive press. In addition to stepping up the size of the engine (the 230 was a 2.3 L, the 250 a 2.5 and the 280 a 2.8) Mercedes also graduated to using inline six cylinder power plants. The 230's production ran from 1963 to 1967. The 250's lifespan was from 1966 until 1968 while the 280 was manufactured from 1967 until 1971.

1971 brought the next iteration of the SL line with the 350. As with past models the numeric designation related to the size of the engine but this group now featured, with one slight exception, a V 8 power plant. This group ran throughout the 1980s with engines growing to a massive 5.6 L version in 1986.

Mercedes has continued to upgrade and release new versions of the SL line and today they have have supercars that are thrust down the road by a 6.0 L 621 horse power turbocharged V 12. These are not for the feint of heart nor for those light in the pocketbook. Still, the car continues the tradition that was established in 1954 and has ensured that the world still sees Mercedes as a maker of not only high end luxury but also luxury sports cars.