OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
Stuttgart, Germany, Mar 30, 2010
Model history – short version
Mercedes-Benz 190 SL (W 121 series, 1955 to 1963)
Daimler-Benz AG introduced the Mercedes-Benz 190 SL in February 1954 at the International Motor Sport Show in New York. It was designed as a touring sports car "which owing to its high comfort is intended for a class of customers who want to travel large distances themselves at high cruising speeds in this externally very sporty looking car," as design engineer Josef Müller wrote in retrospect in 1957 – that can be said of every SL series since. Simultaneously the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL "Gullwing" debuted in New York. As an exciting super sports car it too lent the SL series its character.
The body design of the 190 SL closely followed that of the Gullwing, but it was constructed as a two-seater cabriolet and had a retractable soft top. An optional third seat could be fitted in the rear, at right angles to the direction of travel. There were three versions: a car with a fabric top and a coupé with removable hardtop, optionally with or without a fabric top. The 190 SL was given the internal series designation W 121, like the 190 Saloon that appeared a little later in 1956.
The 190 SL is technically related to the "Ponton" (pontoon) saloons – commonly called that because of their characteristic body shape – of the W 120/121 series. The chassis, for example, featured the familiar low-pivot single-joint swing axle and the front wheel suspension including subframe The shortened floor assembly also came from the Saloon.
A new development was the 1.9-litre petrol engine. The four-cylinder unit has a single overhead camshaft and is regarded as the progenitor of an entire family of engines. In the Mercedes-Benz 190 SL it developed 77 kW and accelerated the fabric-topped variant from 0 to 100 km/h in 14.5 seconds. The top speed was 170 km/h.
During its production life the 190 SL underwent many improvements in details. The Sindelfingen plant built the last unit in 1963 after a total production run of 25,881 vehicles.
Mercedes-Benz W 113 series (1963 to 1971)
At the 1963 Geneva Motor Show Mercedes-Benz presented the new 230 SL – internal series designation W 113. It was designed as a comfortable high-performance two-seater touring car and replaced the 190 SL and 300 SL models. Three versions were available: an open-top car with a folding soft top, an open-top version with hardtop, and finally the hardtop coupé. The hardtop coupé had no soft top and soft-top compartment, but in exchange more room for luggage. All three versions could be driven with the top open. As an optional extra a transverse rear seat was available.
The exterior of the 230 SL is characterised by clear, straight lines and the unmistakable SL face including the large, centrally positioned Mercedes star. The hardtop with high windows and a roof borne up only by slim pillars conveys an impression of lightness; with its inwardly directed curvature it reminds one of Far Eastern temples, and straightaway the car had a nickname: "Pagoda".
The "Pagoda" is the first SL in which speed combined with safety. Since its basis is the floor unit of the famed "Tailfin", the world's first saloon with a safety body, this SL also had a stiff passenger cell and crumple zones in the form of easily deformable front and rear segments. As in the Saloon the interior was designed so as to reduce injury hazards in accidents, meaning that there were no hard corners and edges. As in the previous model, seat belts were available as an optional extra. The steering gear was moved from the crash-imperilled front section to the firewall; the steering column yields to axial compression and additionally features a joint that prevents the feared lance effect in an accident. In 1967 the telescoping safety steering column and the impact absorber in the steering wheel were added.
The chassis, adopted from the 220 SE Saloon, is tuned to the requirements of the sporty car. The suspension is taut, but for a sports car almost atypically comfortable. The six-cylinder, which also came from the Saloon, was modified for use in the SL. The engine, its bore enlarged to give it a displacement of 2.3 litres, developed 110 kW and was designed very sportily.
The successor to the 230 SL was the Mercedes-Benz 250 SL in 1967. The changes concerned mainly the engine and the braking system. The engine, its displacement enlarged by 200 cubic centimetres, had the same output, 110 kW, but ten percent more torque. The 250 SL thus was appreciably more flexible in its response. In addition to the three body versions known from the 230 SL, the 250 SL was available as an optional extra in a fourth version, a Coupé with rear seat bench, shown for the first time in March 1967 at the Geneva Motor Show. Less than a year after the presentation of the 250 SL, it was replaced by the 280 SL with a 2.8-litre engine and 125 kW. All in all, from 1963 to 1971 a total of 48,912 "Pagodas" were built – remarkable for a sports car with such high standards.
Mercedes-Benz R 107 series (1971 to 1989)
The R 107-series SL rolled out on the highway in spring 1971, first as 350 SL (147 kW), from autumn 1971 also as 450 SL (165 kW). For the first time in the history of the SL series an eight-cylinder power plant did duty under the bonnet. Parallel to it the corresponding Coupé models of the SLC series (C 107 series) were built up until autumn 1981.
Besides elegance and quality the vehicles radiated safety, since the crash behaviour of the two-seater was far ahead of its time. Technically, this became apparent in a carefully defined crumple behaviour of body and bodyshell, a high-strength A-pillar, and interior appointments uncompromisingly designed according to safety criteria.
During its 18-year "lifetime", which was not planned to last that long, but in the end was indeed successful, this SL got a whole series of six- and eight-cylinder engines. Its model designations accordingly are quite varied. In July 1974, in response to the oil crisis the 280 SL (136 kW) followed. So three SL engines now were available – nowadays nothing unusual, but in those days something new in the history of this model category. In the course of time all engines underwent modifications (and got slightly changed performance figures) for better compliance with the emission standards, which meanwhile also had become stiffer in most European countries.
In September 1977 Mercedes-Benz launched the 450 SLC 5.0 with a V8 engine enlarged to a displacement of five litres and an output of 177 kW. In a comprehensive facelift it was renamed 500 SL in 1980, and the 350 SL was superseded by the 380 SL (160 kW). In the following years the engines were again revised. A further package of model refinements in 1985 brought the 300 SL (138 kW) as successor to the 280 SL, and all engines were then available with a catalytic converter as an optional extra. New to the range was the 420 SL with V8 engine (160 kW without, 150 kW with catalytic converter). The most spectacular new product was the 560 SL (170 kW), reserved to the export markets USA, Australia and Japan.
Production of the R 107 series ended in August 1989, more than 18 years after the production start-up of the 350 SL. With that this SL series set an internal record that probably never will be broken: in the entire history of the company no other passenger car series has ever been produced over such a long period. All told, in Sindelfingen 237,287 open-top cars were built, a number which impressively demonstrates the great popularity of the 107 series. Of the Coupé a total of 62,888 were built from 1971 to 1981.
Mercedes-Benz R 129 series (1989 to 2001)
At the 1989 Geneva Motor Show Mercedes-Benz presented the SL of the R 129 series. The first models were the 300 SL (140 kW), 300 SL-24 (170 kW) and 500 SL (240 kW). The stylistically assured, no-frills lines of the slightly wedge-shaped body, the flared wheel arches, the half-spoilers forward of the front wheels, a very slanted windscreen, the skilfully modelled rear end and the standard-fit light-alloy wheels produced an exceedingly harmonic overall effect. The brand scored a hit with the vehicle. Production capacity soon was stretched to the limit and delivery periods of several years had to be accepted.
New standards were set by this car in the area of safety. The results of Mercedes-Benz's rigorous frontal and rear-impact crash tests for the open-top vehicle were sensational. Integral parts of the safety concept are also the automatic roll-over bar, which pops up, sensor-controlled, within 0.3 seconds when a roll-over threatens, as well as the integral seats, whose resistance in a crash is many times higher than the possibly occurring forces. The suspension was adapted to the requirements of a touring sports car and enables precise handling and fast driving combined with high comfort. In autumn 1992 another model appeared, the 600 SL with twelve-cylinder engine and 290 kW.
A first facelift in autumn 1995 brought a slightly modified body design, more extensive standard equipment, and more refined engineering. A second facelift in 1998 employed discreet stylistic touch-ups to give the sports car an even more dynamic look, but mainly meant a change in the engine range, with new six-cylinder V-engines in place of the previous in-line engines, and a new V8 power plant. The models now offered for sale were the SL 280 (150 kW), SL 320 (165 kW) and SL 500 (225 kW), along with the SL 600 with an unchanged output. Additionally there were the uprated models SL 60 AMG (280 kW), which first came out on the market as the AMG 500 SL 6.0, as well as the SL 55 AMG (260 kW) and SL 73 AMG (386 kW) – products of the cooperation with AMG that started in 1990.
In summer 2001 production of the R 129 series came to an end after twelve years and a total of 204,940 units. In terms of overall volume it was not quite as successful as its predecessor from the R 107 series (237,287 units); but if average annual production is compared, the R 129 series with some 16,500 units takes a very clear lead.
Mercedes-Benz R 230 series (from 2001)
The most conspicuous innovation in the next SL generation with the internal designation R 230 is the vario-roof: for the first time in the history of this model series it enabled an open-top car and a coupé in one – the transformation takes place within
16 seconds. The first model presented to the public in summer 2001 was the SL 500 (225 kW); in the autumn it was joined by the SL 55 AMG (350 kW). In 2002 the SL 350 (180 kW) followed, and in 2003 the SL 600 (386 kW).
The design of the R 230 series blends tradition and future through distinctive details. For instance, the air intakes in the front wings take up a typical feature of the 300 SL from the 1950s. The thin, wing-like segments on these side air intakes – called fins by experts – also are a reminiscence.
Ever since the "Pagoda" the abbreviation SL is synonymous with pioneering achievements in the areas of active and passive safety in open-top sports cars. With an entirely new, comprehensive concept the R 230-series SL clearly outstrips the previous safety standards. The concept includes electronic handling dynamics systems like Sensotronic Brake Control SBC™, Active Body Control ABC, Brake Assist BAS, acceleration skid control ASR, or ESP® and extends to the structural integrity of the body in every conceivable type of accident. A few other things contributing to occupant protection are two-stage airbags for driver and front passenger, head/thorax bags in the doors, integral seats, high-performance belt tensioners, belt force limiters, and the sensor-controlled roll-over bar, which goes into action even when the vario-roof is closed.
The first facelift came in 2006. It brought the SL 500 a 285 kW V8 engine and the
SL 350 a 200 kW V6 – both new developments. The output of the SL 600 is now
380 kW. The seven-speed automatic transmission 7G-TRONIC is standard equipment.
The most conspicuous element of a further model refinement package in 2008 was the new front design, which adapted the SL to the brand's current car design. Also, the SL 280 (170 kW) was added to the range.
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