Test drive Mercedes 300 SL and SLS AMG: Dream wings
Legendary model with opening doors and its distant descendant
Two stars rise in the night ... Mercedes SLS AMG (2010) meets its great-grandfather 300 SL (1955) to spread its wings together along the Cote d'Azur. One has long become a legend, the other has not yet become.
Monsieur Akat is to blame for everything. On March 14, 1952, the sports commissioner of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest recommended to Daimler-Benz how the doors should be changed in order to get their blessing for the Le Mans race. Thus, this is the man to whom the Mercedes 300 SL owes its most extravagant appeal - large doors that swing upwards like wings. The dreams of thousands of motorists fly on these wings, and their flight continues to this day. When the 1954 SL debuted in New York City as a road sports car in February 300, it was an incredible feeling—as if an iPhone with a puck on a knitted tablecloth suddenly appeared next to a phone in the mid-XNUMXs.
What was then born in the hastily restored post-war production and design departments of the plant in Unterturkheim can be safely called an automotive miracle. Even before Germany hit the miniature Goggomobil and Isetta models, the incredible 300 Sport Leicht (lightweight) with 215 hp. transported on empty highways at speeds over 220 km / h. Theoretically, with the longest "main" transmission, even 267 km / h were possible, but it is not known if anyone tried to achieve them.
What a challenge to the humble style of the fifties! The time when it is considered perfectly normal for an admiring naked boy to pose in front of the SL radiator grill on the cover of das Auto Motor und Sport. On the other hand, the woman's breasts would then force the German to crush the box of homemade salami.
First direct injection in a standard four-stroke model
And here he is, 65 years later, in perfect condition, with shiny burgundy nail polish, as if caring, gloved hands had just taken it off the assembly line. In those years, an incredibly lucky star was supposed to shine over Württemberg, inspiring engineers and designers to create this masterpiece of sporty elegance. The doors swing open easily, and for a moment you feel like you see Sophia Lauren or Yaja Gabor sliding in their car with a cross-knee motion typical of women. When you turn the key, like from a letterbox, with a key, the engine starts uncontrollably, as if the six cylinders under the hood whisper provocatively: "What's going on, SLS, you don't seem to have direct injection?"
The replica hits the mark, and the idle rumble of a nearby Mercedes SLS AMG gets louder. Does the dynamic super-sportsman created by designer Mark Featherstone really need to listen to a lesson in modern automotive technology from an automotive retiree? Yes - a 198-litre, straight-angle, straight-six engine with direct fuel injection for the first time in a standard four-stroke engine. His name is M XNUMX. The veteran continues: “And how many victories does he have in competitions? How about the northern part of the Nürburgring, Thousand miles and Le Mans? I won them all in a row."
The SLS's 6,2-liter naturally aspirated V8 with intake manifolds growls angrily, as if protesting against such comparisons. Former AMG boss Volker Morkinweg has made it clear that the SLS is not just a pale copy of a retro icon. However, this does not change the fact that the entire model falls into the giant shadow of the outstretched wings of the old master. The SLS is forced to compete with the legend chosen by a jury in 1999 as the sports car of the century. “How are things with the light structure,” the old man continues to annoy him. When you're 12 inches shorter, 15 inches narrower, have a tubular grille, a manual transmission and safety tech like a knitted ski hat, it's not hard to boast of a slim figure and a weight of 1295 kilograms. AMG weighs much more - the difference is a third of the weight of Smart Fortwo. “Did I mention the roundabout?”
Mercedes 300 SL does not forgive the arrogant
With the inclusion of the first gear, the self-righteous post-war handsome man refuses sarcastic remarks and focuses on the movement. When the six with a thick sound goes through the division into two thousand revolutions, then, with pleasant vibrations, leaves all four thousand behind, and the next turn approaches surprisingly quickly, as if through a telephoto lens, the pilot recalls the words of the Mercedes technician
about four drum brakes and a oscillating rear axle, and they hover over her like a vulture that Karl Kling's racing SL ran into during the Carrera Panamericana. Today, even owners of small cars can hardly imagine the significance of these design features. If these days you just have to downshift to turn, in the SL your foot has to press the brake pedal with all its might. When you enter a corner, you had to end up stopping, having previously managed to slow down sharply, and hold on tight, but the size of a truck steering wheel - otherwise what auto motor und sport is described here will happen to you. quite softly with the words "SL can serve suddenly and does not forgive any impudence."
It is as if one could afford the audacity of having a €1 icon (150 marks in 000) that, even at normal speed, tosses its ass back and forth like a sublime rock and roll dancer. We take our hats off to the heroes who managed to pilot this luxurious sports car in competitions. Only 1955 roadsters received a more advanced single-pivot oscillating rear axle, in 29 disc brakes appeared - at least the front ones ...
However, we have not yet reached six thousand revolutions. We expect them to sound vicious, rude, intoxicating, as promised by auto motor und sport back in 1955. Nothing changed. The ingeniously designed six from Untertürkheim roars and creaks so that up to 6600 rpm your eardrums remain miraculously healthy. In the lower registers, the 300 SL acts like a light Württemberg wine, in the upper registers like a strong brandy from the Reims Valley.
Mercedes SLS AMG has not yet established itself as a classic
Slightly clouded by the spectacular experience, the author switched to SLS in 2010. The senses register the headrests, the side body supports, the majestic sound of the Bang & Olufsen music system. The steering wheel has been greatly reduced and buttons with ergonomic lettering are placed around the driver. However, the inimitable charm of the original has disappeared, that hard click of all-metal switches and the sheen of the dashboard painted in the color of the car. With them, the still felt sense of creative freedom that former engineers was guided by is lost.
The latest atmospheric supersport Mercedes climbs the slopes with fiery zeal, displaying lateral acceleration values that the old one barely achieves in the longitudinal direction. It stops like a beast, its belly spinning from its rumble - another impressive testament to what has been happening in the automotive industry for half a century. After all, it hasn't yet established itself as a classic of the future - something that SL hasn't needed for a long time.
How the Mercedes 300 SL got to New York
There is no 300% solid record of how the 1952 SL thoroughbred race car that won the 2 Mille Miglia, the Swiss Grand Prix in Bern, the Eiffel Cup at the Nürburgring and the Carrera Panamericana in Mexico was turned into a luxury sports car. . In any case, there is no doubt that American Mercedes importer Max Hoffman played an important role by promising the Mercedes board of directors on September 1953, 1000 that he would sell 300 units of a possible road version of the 6 SL. Just five months later, on February 1954, the SL debuted at the New York Auto Show. For the opening doors, the model spontaneously received the nickname Gullwing from the local public - “gull wing”.
Text: Alexander Bloch
Photo: Hans-Dieter Zeifert
