MERCEDES-BENZ HISTORY

The 230, 250 and 280SL Mercedes sports cars are as sought-after today as they were in their 1960s heyday. They offer a mix of chic styling, solid German build quality and engineering and spirited driving qualities that few could equal. Always a firm favourite with women drivers, the cars offered handling and performance that also won approval from Stirling Moss, one-time works driver for Mercedes in Grand Prix and sports-car racing, who owned a 250SL. A well-sorted SL can inspire an enthusiastic driver with its fine handling, road holding, braking and a surprisingly sporty automatic transmission. Many see the SL as too sumptuous, spacious and sybaritic to be a true sports car, yet it proved itself in Europe’s toughest rally, the Marathon de la Route, over a Spa-Sophia-Liege route. won in 1963 by a 230SL- driven by Eugen Boringer. The SL designation - first used on the much more powerful 300SL of the 1950s - stood for “super light”, although the cars were heavyweights ranging from 2855lb (1295kg) for the 230SL to 3120lb (14l5kg) for the 2B0SL. The only concessions to weight saving were the doors, bonnet, bootlid and hood stowage panel, made of aluminium. The first 230SLs - with removable “Pagoda” steel roof panel - were built in March 1963. They featured a 150bhp four-bearing straight-six engine (with Bosch injection pioneered by Mercedes on its W196 Grand Prix cars of 1954 and 1955), front disc brakes and optional power steering. Sales neared 20,000 in 1967 when the 230 made way for the 250SL. Power stayed at 150bhp but the engine was sweeter and had more torque, while the 250 had discs all round and power steering as standard. Best of the bunch was the 280SL, built from November 1967 to March 1971. With a 170bhp seven-healing engine this version goes well with automatic transmissions, though there were four- speed manual options and a rare five-speeder. The only external recognition point was one-piece wheel trims. Some later cars had optional alloy wheels. Production totaled 23,885, making the 280SL the most popular model.

MERCEDES-BENZ 300SL

The Mercedes-Benz 300SL was one of the most sensational sports cars of the lq50s. It was easily one of the fastest. With a top speed of 130-l55mph (209-249kph), depending on axle ratio. Only a handful of Ferrari and Maserati road cars could approach this performance at the time - and, strictly speaking, they were not fully fledged production cars like the SL (“super light”). The original Gullwing coupe, with its unique roof-hinged doors, was launched in February 1954, though the Le Mans-winning prototypes had already been given a sneak preview in 1952. The body, built in steel with alloy panels, was supported by a complex space frame of tube not seen before or sine on a road car, the deep sills necessitating the use of Gullwing doors. With its blistered wheel arches and smoothly-curved rump, it was one of the most instantly recognizable shapes on the road. Under the bonnet was an advanced. fuel-injected overhead-cam three-liter engine canted over to keep the bonnet line low. Derived from the straight-six used in big 300 saloons, it pioneered the use of fuel injection on load-going cars, delivering a reliable 240bhp at 6100rpm. A price tag in Britain approaching about twice the price of the contemporary Jaguar XI(140 – made the 300SL the preserve of the very rich and it was also a favourite with celebrities. The 300SL had its problems, however. Suspect swing-axle rear suspension needed an expert to tame it if the SL were to be driven to the limit of its capabilities, although in the right hands it was supremely capable, as its fine record in racing and rallying testifies. The body was prone to leaks and the space-frame construction was difficult to repair; making the car unpopular with dealers. Thus, the Gullwing coupe was replaced, after 1,400 units had been made, by the 1957 roadster a successful attempt to make the 300SL easier to live with. Low-pivot swing axles, with a horizontal compensating spring, made road holding far more predictable. The light-alloy three-litre engine was tuned to give 10bhp extra (now 250 at 6000rpm) and marginally more torque for flexibility. It was also easier to build, slimmer sills allowing conventional doors. Beautifully made in the Mercedes-Benz tradition, the roadster had a top which folded neatly away under an elegant steel lid behind the sports bucket seats. The roadster proved even more popular than the Gullwing, 1,858 examples finding rich new owners by the time production ended to make way for the far less specialized 230SL, in 1963.