10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT...
Elegant, luxurious and high quality – the 107 series Mercedes SL roadster (and its SLC coupé sister) makes a great classic choice. We delve into the history files to see what lesser-known nuggets of information we can retrieve about this classy classic.
The SL name tag has a long history with Mercedes, having been introduced on road- going cars on the 300SL in 1954 and still going strong in sixth generation guise today. That 300SL was the legendary Gullwing, something of a design icon and whilst the comparatively plain-Jane 190SL introduced alongside it may have been more affordable and the 300SL Roadster of 1957 more practical, it is the Gullwing that has always had the mega-rich reaching for their cheque books.
In 1963 these original SLs were replaced by the W113 ‘Pagoda’ 230SL. Easily identified by its vertical headlights and concave hardtop (a shape that gave rise to the Pagoda nickname), these cars moved the model line further from sports car territory towards the luxurious tourer end of the market – the 230SLs got big 2306cc six- cylinder engines, later enlarged to 2496cc and 2778cc for the 250SL and 280SL respectively.
The third generation of SLs are the 107 series, which is what we are focusing on today. These had a long production life, being built from 1971 to 1989. The first to arrive was the R107 350SL Roadster in February 1971, with a 3499cc V8 and a choice of four-speed manual or fourspeed automatic gearbox. Some markets also got a bigger 4520cc engine and a standard autobox from May – American emissions regulations had sapped the power of the 3499cc unit, but desmogging equipment meant that the bigger unit was no more powerful than a European 350. Confusingly this was at first called the 350SL 4.5, rather than the more logical 450SL. A hardtop C107 SLC coupé joined
the fray later in 1971, while the bigger engine came to Europe in de-smogged high performance trim as the 450SL in 1973 – just in time for the oil crisis.
In August 1974 the 280SL arrived with a new generation straight-six DOHC engine at 2746cc and a choice of four-speed manual or automatic gearbox. This was nearly as powerful as the V8, but a lot less thirsty. In 1977 Mercedes fitted a new 5.0 alloy V8 option in the SLC, the first time that the Coupé’s spec differed significantly from the Roadsters. This was to test the new engine out in small scale production before a planned release in the new S- class saloons. That engine finally made its way into the roadsters in 1980 with the launch of the 500SL, the same year as the 350SL was replaced by the 380SL with a bigger 3818cc engine and a four-speed automatic gearbox as standard.
In 1981 the 280SL got a five-speed manual gearbox from the spring, while the ratios were lowered on the first three gears in the automatic option. This was the year the SLC was replaced by the SEC, a car based on the W126 S- class rather than the 107-series and consequently with much less sporty lines. The R107 soldiered on though, and in 1985 it received a major internal re- design and a more sporting exterior. 280SL production ended in October, replaced by the 300SL with 2962cc and a choice of five-speed manual or four-speed automatic. The 380 was also replaced, this time by the 420SL (4196cc/ four-speed auto) and the 500SL engine was revised, all engine capacities now offering more power and better MPG. The US market got the 560SL in 1986 with a massive 5547cc engine, but in August 1989 the 300SL, 500SL and 560SL all bowed out after 237,287 Roadsters had been produced (plus a further 62,888 SLC Coupés), to be replaced by the fourth generation R129 models.
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There is still some debate, but the letters SL are generally accepted to stand for Sports Leicht in German, which conveniently translates into English as Sports Light. The very first of these was the W194 300SL race car of 1952, which not surprisingly was both sporty and light. As we saw in the introduction, the first road- going car to carry the SL tag was the W198 300SL of 1954 (the Gullwing), which was still both S and L as it weighed 1252kg/ 2758lb. The 190SL was a little lighter at 1101kg/ 2425lb, but the subsequent 230SL Pagoda had followed the market trends towards more luxury and tipped the scales at 1367kg/ 3010lb. However, that grew again with the 350SL which started the 107 series in 1971 – this was a comparatively heavy 1666kg/ 3670lb. The 450SL of 1979 was something of a chubster at 1712kg/ 3770lb, but it is hard to design in quality and luxury without adding a few pounds.
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Instead of the vertical lights of the W113 Pagoda and the W114/115 saloons, the R107 SL got horizontal headlights which helped to reduce the height of the nose and its frontal area. The lights were flanked by heavily ribbed indicators which wrapped around the wings to be visible from the sides. The ribbing here was a stylistic touch, but it matched similar ribbing on the rear lights that was actually practical because it helped to stop them being obscured by dirt getting thrown up behind the car. Front and rear were linked by ribbed sides which tried to mask some of the car’s bulk.
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The soft top stowed below a metal cover behind the cabin, and a removable hard top could be fitted. Although concerns over proposed legislation in the USA at the time of the 107 SL’s development had persuaded other manufacturers to ditch full convertibles, Mercedes designed strength in from the start. Those chunky screen pillars are chunky for a reason, being strong enough to help the SL pass the US’s roof drop test without needing a rollover bar.
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Commendably fast in a straight line and nicely stable through the curves thanks to a rear suspension that was considerably improved over earlier models, the overall 107 feel is of a car that is too large and ever so slightly ponderous (thanks in part to the steering box and accompanying multitude of links between driver and road wheels) to flick around the back roads close to its limit. The oft-stated description that these cars are more Grand Tourer than sports car must irk those owners who like a thrash, but does adequately describe how most owners will use their car.
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There were no duff engines in the SL range – 300,000 miles or more was perfectly attainable with regular servicing, and they were as competent trickling along at 30mph in traffic as they were at the legal limit on motorway hauls. Combine these characteristics and today you have a classic that can be used as your only car, all year round. The only question is whether you can afford to feed it – sub-20mpg is easily achieved and an extremely light foot is needed to wring a respectable 20+mpg figure from the V8s, although 25mpg is realistic from a good six.
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The 107 SL was designed with a rotary engine in mind. Mercedes had acquired a license to build Wankel engines in 1961, and had developed three and four rotor designs that were supposed to go into the new model, the latter producing up to 277bhp in prototype form. Mercedes dodged a bullet with that one though, deciding that the rotary concept was fatally flawed. They launched the SL with a V8 engine because this was shorter than the previous six- cylinder units, so it could give the heavy new car greater speed and still fit in the engine bay while leaving enough room for crumple zones.
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The 107 series comprised the R107 (Roadster), and from October 1971 the C107, the latter a closed two- door coupe based on a stretched 107 floorpan. This had 14 extra inches added within the wheelbase to provide more rear seat accommodation, but the overhangs remained the same as they were on the smaller roadster. It was therefore never really as well balanced visually. Mind you, it may have been heavier than the SL, but it had a better Cd figure thanks to the closed roof and longer body.
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When Mercedes introduced the alloyengined 500SL in 1980, they did the same as they had done on the 500SLC and also fitted an aluminium bonnet, boot and bumpers, plus a boot spoiler and deeper front air dam to ensure the model looked visually different. These were always stylistically controversial, but it turns out they were also functional as they reduced both drag and front end lift.
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A facelift for 1986 saw new 15in wheels (up from 14in) with low profile tyres. That gave room for larger brakes, and ABS was now fitted as standard rather than as an option – the SL was the last model in Mercedes’ line-up to get this feature, which had been in development since the late 1960s. Indeed, they had shown anti-lock brakes on 350SLs to the press in December 1970, but it had taken another seven years before this feature was ready for production.
10
The biggest- engined 107 variant was the 560SL for the US market. This took the enlarged 5547cc version of the M117 alloy V8 engine from the contemporary S- class saloon to restore some of the power that had been lost in an effort to comply with US emissions regulations. This was predictably thirsty and actually produced higher levels of emissions overall, but because the tests measured the percentage of certain pollutants in any given volume of exhaust fumes, it was regarded as the cleaner unit. Politicians, don’t you just love them...?