HARDTOP’S HARD ACT TO FOLLOW

With 56,330 built from 1972-’81 the SLC, the fixed-head coupé sibling of the R107 SL, was a commercial hit in its class. Yet it has always had a slight identity crisis, in that it had neither the wind-in-the-hair appeal of the SL nor the rarefied, hand-finished dignity of the W111 coupés it replaced.

Arguably the most elegant Mercedesbenz of the 1970s, the SLC was considered to be hugely chic in period (the Americans loved them) and can even claim, in its final, homologation-special 5-litre form, to have had a respectable – if brief – rallying career (C&SC, March). Weighing in at 3500Ib and on a longer wheelbase, C107s were considered by many to be more forgiving to drive than the short and stubby two-seater SLS.

Launched at the Paris Salon in October 1971 as the 350SLC, this four-seater coupé took its visual lead from the R107 SL rather than the contemporary S-class saloon. It shared front wings, bonnet and bootlid with the SL but with 14in let in to the R107 chassis to get extra rear-seat legroom. The glazed-in slats in its C-pillars were a visual ruse that allowed the engineers to use a smaller quarter-window that would be able to disappear into the body.

The 350SLC was soon supplemented by the 450SLC. Then, from 1974, tax-avoiding buyers could get the 280 twin-cam straightsix in the coupé. This handsome lump looked nice under the bonnet, and made the 280SLC nearly as fast as the 3.5-litre V8 – but it was nearly as thirsty, too.

Most SLCS were automatics but you could order a manual on the 350 and 280 models, not that many customers did. The short-lived 1979-’81 380 and 450 5.0/500SLCS had the revised all-alloy V8s destined for the W126 S-class. With more than 30,000 built the 225bhp 450SLC was easily the most popular SLC variant. Velour, leather, MB-TEX and tweed cloth were the trim options, but even with a £15,000 price-tag for the 450SLC (which outgunned the V12 XJ-S by £2000) you didn’t get a radio as standard.