With its soaring gullwing doors, direct-injected inline-six racing engine, and slippery teardrop shape, the initial SL was already unlike anything on the road.
’s longest-running nameplate, dating back to 1954. It started with the racing-inspired 300 SL, which appeared like a portent from some wondrous future. A convertible version was unveiled simultaneously at the New York Auto Show, and the model has followed the same basic recipe ever since: a sports car hosting the marque’s most powerful engines, leading-edge technology, and luxury materials, built stolidly for cruising the world’s most exclusive postal codes.
As a supplement to this venerable formula, Mercedes engineers and designers have created special versions of every iteration of SL, slathering them with alluring dosages of, adding power and/or enhanced fitments, to create special, typically limited-edition, variants. Here’s a look at the greatest SLs from each of the model’s seven generations.With its soaring gullwing doors, direct-injected inline-six racing engine, and slippery teardrop shape, the initial SL was already unlike anything on the road. Produced in limited numbers—only around 3,250 coupes and roadsters were made over a nine-year run—it has become a seven-figure blue-chip collectible, with concours-quality examples now routinely selling for over $2 million. For the truly discerning privateer racer, though, Mercedes-Benz built 29 lightweight examples of the classic coupe, substituting aluminum for the “normal” 300 SL’s steel body panels, as well as adding a sport suspension, Rudge racing wheels, and a higher-powered engine. These cars are so rare, and come to market so infrequently, thatIn contrast to its high-strung race-inspired forebear, the second-generation SL was more of a boulevard cruiser, with a softer suspension, a delicate concave-roofed design that gave the car its “Pagoda” nickname, and more traditional six-cylinder power plants that, at launch, produced nearly 100 hp less than that in the hottest version of the To remedy this seeming deficiency in power, the marque’s then-head of racing, Erich Waxenberger, set up a skunkworks program to create a more potent Pagoda. To do this, he stuffed the monster 247 hp 6.3-liter V-8 from the automaker’s 600 limousine into the SL’s nose. The big engine weighed down the car’s front end too much, adversely affecting the SL’s ride and handling. As a result, a production version was never made, and the prototype was, like many project cars, sent to the scrapper.In the middle years of its third-generation SL’s record-setting 18-year run, Mercedes decided to go rally racing—an off-road sport characterized by raucous, unruly competition and rooster tails of gravel. Mercedes-Benz initially utilized the extended-wheelbase-coupe version of the R107, the so-called SLC , because of its stiffer chassis. But Mercedes thought it stood a chance with the convertible as well, since the droptop was shorter and more nimble. So, four versions of its most potent European-spec roadster, the 500 SL, had output from the 5.0-liter eight-cylinder mill bumped from 237 hp to 300 hp, substituting in different transmission ratios to allow quicker acceleration. Each car had its weight pared down by over 500 pounds, and was equipped with an aluminum roll cage and a string of hood-mounted headlamps. Unfortunately, wanting to focus on profit-yielding production cars rather than money-burning racing, Mercedes-Benz brass pulled the plug on these cool rally racers before the season even started.AMG was founded in the late 1960s as an independent shop specializing in enhancing the performance and individuality of Mercedes vehicles. The company was so good at what it did, that, in the 1990s, Mercedes and AMG entered into an official partnership. At the end of that decade, in 1999, as the fourth-generation SL was entering its twilight years, the speed freaks at AMG decided to create a special SL hotrod. Following a well-honed formula, they implanted the marque’s biggest and most powerful engine—a bored-out version of the 6.0-liter V-12 from the range-toppingDisplacing a gratuitous 7.3-liters, and producing a tire-shredding 525 hp, the SL 73 AMG is capable of accelerating from zero to 60 mph in less than 4.5 seconds on its way to a top speed of over 190 mph. Fewer than 50 examples were made, at a price of $178,000 , and they are so desirable that even a middling version sold last year for $610,000.Following its corporate incorporation into Mercedes-Benz, AMG decided to create a boutique internal studio that would focus on more extreme performance vehicles. The result of this, in 2006, was the so-called “Black Series,” an occasional line of extremely powerful, limited-production, track-focused cars. This 2008 SL was the third car in this lineup, and it was a doozy. The model variant was powered by a twin-turbocharged 6.0-liter V-12 that thumped out 670 hp, enough to speed it from zero to 60 mph in just 3.7 seconds, en route to a 200 mph top speed. But even more outrageous was the wild carbon-fiber body kit that included absurdly flared fenders front and rear—wide enough to accommodate 325-series rubber in the back—a lightweight hood and trunk lid, and a somewhat sacrilegious fixed roof. Only 350 were made, and top-tier examples now sell for over $400,000.—is well known. Less known is this 2014 car, one of only 19 made to celebrate Hamilton’s victory in that year’s racing championship. In fact, each car was a one-of-one individual expression, with special details connecting it to one of the 19 racetracks included in that season’s Formula 1 circuit. All were black and gold, inside and out, and all included an upgraded 585 hp twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter V-8, a racing helmet worn by Lewis Hamilton, a Lewis Hamilton Edition IWC watch, a Formula 1 compendium book signed by Lewis Hamilton, and an invitation to the first race of the 2015 season. Each car cost around $400,000 at the time.This exquisite roadster is not the most powerful version of the current SL—that honor belongs to the hybrid 603 hp SL 63 S E Performance we told you about in. However, at an estimated price of $250,000, it is the most expensive. And with a 577 hp twin-turbo V-8 under its hood, it’s no slouch, able to accelerate to 60 mph in around 3.8 seconds. Speaking of hood, you’ll readily be able to recognize this top-tier SL by the imprints on its long snout, which is covered in a tessellation of Maybach icon monograms—branding that extends to just about every other surface of the vehicle. Like the Maybach-ized version of the all-electric GLS S.U.V., this ultimate SL enhances its luxury by diminishing its utility and removing the back row of seats. With fancier leathers, a cushier ride, and extra sound-deadening material, it’s a plush cruiser that was a contender inRolling Stone
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