Early Mercedes Benz Sports Cars at the Cincinnati Concours

 

With Mercedes Benz being the featured marque at this year's Cincinnati Concours d'Elegance it was pretty obvious that there were going to be some sports cars. And there were plenty. They were divided into three classes. This one is cars from 1955 through 1971 and includes what many see as the ultimate Mercedes sports car, a 1955 300 SL Gullwing coupe. Priced new at $6820, the car has a three-liter inline six-cylinder engine that makes 215 horsepower. At the time this was the fastest production car being made, topping out at 162 miles per hour. This car won the Best of Show Esprit de Sport.

This 1967 250 SL was one of about 5000 ever produced. The car has a 2.49-liter inline six-cylinder engine that puts out 148 horsepower. The current owner of this car bought it from the former owner of the Cincinnati Reds and found, in the trunk, a pennant from the 1975 World Series Champion season.

The original price of this 280 SL was $7900. It was the last of the "pagoda" removable hard tops. The car has a 2.8-liter inline six-cylinder engine that generates 195 horsepower. This is enough power to get it from zero to 60 in 7.6 seconds and gives it a top speed of 128 miles per hour.

A little fewer than 13,000 280 SLs were produced for the American market between 1967 and 1971, and this 1968 model is one of them. This car has been in the same family since new. It sports a 2.8-liter inline six-cylinder engine.

The entry level Mercedes sports car back in 1960 was this 190 SL. It was something of a "younger sibling" of the famed 300 SL. It has a 1.9-liter inline four-cylinder engine that puts out 104 horsepower. This is a European spec car.

Intended as the successor to the 190 SL and 300 SL models, this 1965 230 SL introduced the removeable "pagoda" top. It runs on a 2.3-liter inline six-cylinder engine that churns out 150 horsepower. It was the first sports car with an engineered "safety body."

Another European spec car with metric dials and Euro headlights, this is a 1960 190 SL. This one was a limited production six speed manual transmission. Otherwise, the underpinnings are the same as the 190 seen above.