For the Mercedes enthusiast, the
300SL represents the "Holy Grail". It is beautiful,
old and extremely rare, but probably the biggest appeal
(apart from the blistering performance) comes from
the unique "gullwing doors"
and the spaceframe chassis.
The 300SL was originally designed for the race track,
and as such Mercedes engineers adopted a tubular spaceframe
construction for the chassis. Tubular spaceframes, though
light and rigid, had one draw back - they engaged considerable
space originally provided for door openings so much so
that door sills had to be made considerably higher and
wider.
To overcome this limitation, the engineers installed a
pair of gullwing doors which also opened the roof for
easier access. Such innovative design immediately received
admiration from all over the world. The powerful straight-six
was fed by a mechanical fuel injection, one of the earliest
fuel injection systems used on a car.
Displacing just 3 litres, its output was an outstanding
215 hp. Since this engine was tall, and in order to
keep the bonnet (thus drag co-efficient) and centre
of gravity low, engineers had to tilt the engine 40°,
and then offset it to one side to maintain the cars
balance.
The 300SL was a fast machine, but it was almost as difficult
to control as a racing car. The swing axle rear suspension
gave the sort of high speed oversteer that only a really
gifted driver could cope with. It was first tested in international competition at sports car races held in Switzerland, at Le Mans, the Nürburgring, and in the Panamericana held in Mexico.
The lessons learnt by Mercedes during its time at the race track had all been incorporated into the 300SL, things such as the direrct fuel injection system which gave the 2996cc engine a whopping 215 horsepower (240 SAE) output, and a maximum speed of 260 km/h (162 mph). Using the servo-assisted self cooling turbo brake drums from the 300S, the Gullwing could reach 47 mph (75 km/h) in first, 80 mph (128 km/h) in second, 116 mph (186 km/h) in third and 149 mph (240 km/h) in fourth.
In the end, Mercedes dealers convinced the design team
that the door system was not favoured by many of its
customers, particularly women (who found it difficult
to maintain modesty while entering and exiting the vehicle),
and Mercedes discontinued construction of the gullwing
and concentreated on 300SL Roadster.
The 300SL Roadster
first went on display at the Geneva Motor Show in 1957. Immediately evident was the use of conventional doors, and in turn the lower waist and door line, thus providing the "percieved" need to allow easier entry and egress. But the roadster, while a true and worthy successor, would never reach the much lauded heights of collectability and desirabilty as that of the Coupe.
