Mercedes 300 SL Roadster

Picture taken in Sintra . The first 300 SL was launched in 1952 as an automobile road racing that actually achieved some remarkable results in some of these races . This " Sport Light " ( SL ) restored the reputation of Mercedes - Benz sports cars present powerful after the end of World War II .

The " 300 " represents the displacement of your engine , which is 3 liters and " SL " would be the beginning of the class roadsters from Mercedes - Benz . Furthermore , this was the first gasoline car in history to have direct fuel injection .

However, the car Mercedes decided to produce a normal road from SL 300 , and thus , in 1954 was launched as a coupé 300 SL " Gran Guide " sporty has not restricted only to competition. The company Daimler - Benz was persuaded by his American official importer Maximilian E. Hoffman , to start selling the 300 SL to the common public as a sports model . This promised them a huge success in the U.S. market .

In contrast to the presentations of other Mercedes-Benz models on European soil , the Coupé was launched in 1954 at the IAA in New York .

This new 300 SL has been known as " Gullwing " since its launch due to its upward opening doors , also known as butterfly wings , which clearly resemble the wings of birds when open .

These " wings " were not included simply as a design choice , the reality is that they were quite constrained by the peculiar tubular chassis. However, it was clearly because of them that the 300 SL become a flagship vehicle and revolutionary for its time .

The version " Gullwing " of the 300 SL was available only until 1957 , when it was replaced by the roadster version that would be responsible for status as a family of SL roadsters . At that time it was the fastest car in the world in production.

In the year that production ended in 1963 , the 300 SL had become a dizzyingly fast cabriolet inevitably just within reach of the wealthiest clients .

We produced a total of about 1400 units , over 80 % of which were sold in the United States due to improved economic conditions in that country after the post- War .

This car mid-twentieth century was voted " sports car of the century " in 1999 .