Start with what the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL is: a 2-door coupé, roadster with 2996 cc M198 straight-six engine, built from 1954 to 1955, at the height of the post-war boom. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to Friedrich Geiger.
The story
The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (chassis code W 198) is a two-seat sports car that was produced by Mercedes-Benz from 1954 to 1957 as a gullwinged coupé and from 1957 to 1963 as a roadster. The road going 1954 fuel injected 300 SL (W198) traces its origins to the company's original 1952 300 SL carburetted racing car, the Mercedes-Benz W194. As one of the first automobiles to be equipped with a mechanical direct gasoline fuel-injection system, the power output of its three-liter overhead camshaft slanted straight-six engine surpassed that of its successful racing predecessor. Depending on configuration of axle ratio, camshaft, bumpers etc., the 300 SL was capable of reaching 260 km/h (162 mph), earning it a reputation as a sports car racing champion, and making it the fastest production car of its time.
The car's iconic gullwing doors and innovative lightweight tubular-frame construction were groundbreaking. The designation "300 SL" is derived from the 1951 two-door luxury sports tourer Mercedes-Benz W188 "300 S", with the use of the S being not defined. The additional L, as 20 years earlier in the SSKL, is an abbreviation of the German term leicht, meaning "light", a reference to the car's racing-bred lightweight construction. Even in modern times it is disputed whether SL stood for Super Leicht or Sport Leicht. Following the 1952 successes, like winning the 24h of Le Mans and the Carrera Panamericana, Max Hoffman, importer of Mercedes-Benz and other European brands to the United States at the time, recognized the potential demand for a high-performance sports car among American
What is underneath
The engine is 2996 cc M198 straight-six engine. On the scales it comes to Coupé 1295 kg, Roadster 1330 kg, from 1961 1370 kg. Drive goes through a 4-speed manual. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 2400 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
In the Mercedes-Benz line-up the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL has a clear place: it replaced the Mercedes-Benz W194 (racing car); it handed the line to the Mercedes-Benz W113 (230SL) / Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG; the factory was Stuttgart-Untertürkheim, West Germany. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Chevrolet Corvette, the Cadillac Eldorado, the Toyota Land Cruiser. Nearby in the Mercedes-Benz catalogue sit the Mercedes-Benz C124 and the Mercedes-Benz C253.
Owning one today
EPA combined economy is 17 mpg, about $4,450 a year in fuel at the EPA's assumptions. Condition, mileage and specification move any single car a long way from a headline figure.