Showing posts with label 300sl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 300sl. Show all posts

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Welcome Back: 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe



In the 1950's the Mercedes-Benz 300SL was the fastest production car of its day. Codenamed W198, it was introduced in 1954 as a coupe with the fascinating gullwing doors and later an open roadster. 

This car is a softened road-legal version based on the company's successful 1952 race car, the W194. It comes with the 3.0L M198 SOHC I6 engine fitted with a Bosch mechanical gasoline direct injection system that generates about 212-222 hp. It was mated with the 4-speed manual transmission.

As of now, the classic 300SL with the gullwing doors became a collectible with prices in the US$700,000-1,000,000 range. Sports Car International ranked this car as the number 5 sports car of all time. The present day SLS AMG inspired the Gullwing doors from the 300SL.