Sports luxury - Mercedes-Benz 230 SL Automatic in (historic) test

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Sports luxury - Mercedes-Benz 230 SL Automatic in (historic) test

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Created on May 21, 1965

Text:

Clauspeter Becker

Photos:

Daimler AG

4

Archiv Daimler AG

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Bruno von Rotz

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Archiv Reinhard / Max Pichler

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Archiv

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Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (1966) - a good stylistic fit for southern Europe

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Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (1963) - in roadster setup - high side windows

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Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (1963) - standard version with attached hardtop

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Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (1964) - for connoisseurs

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Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (1964) - with weatherproof soft top

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Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (1965) - during test drives in winter

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Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (1963) - on a test drive - the behavior of the rear swing axle is clearly visible

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Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (1964) - with attached hardtop

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Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (1963) - Transparency drawing - Silhouette view

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Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (1963) - Presentation of the Pagoda SL at the IAA in Frankfurt on September 12 to 22, 1963

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Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (1963) - putting on the 45 to 48 kg hardtop requires four strong hands

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Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (1963) - view of the so-called "pagoda" roof - the term was already established in 1963

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Mercedes Benz 230 SL (1963) - comfortable entry, relatively free movement

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Mercedes Benz 230 SL (1963) - another person could also sit across behind the front seats

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Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (1963) - standard interior without the additional ventilation slots behind the windshield

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Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (1963) - dashboard of the preliminary study with additional air vents at the top, which did not go into series production

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Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (1963) - the emergency seat in the rear

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Mercedes Benz 230 SL (1964) - perfectly shaped individual seats - at the 1964 Geneva Motor Show

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Mercedes-Benz 280 SL Automatic (1969) - Selector lever with reversed gearshift scheme

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Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (1963) - 150 DIN hp or 170 SAE hp was the output of the fuel-injected in-line six-cylinder engine

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Mercedes Benz 230 SL (1963) - simple and elegant design of the rear lights on the new arrival

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Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (1966) - in advertising - the most sensible dream car

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Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (1964) - in an architectural context

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Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (1963) - silver roadster from the W 113 model series

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Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (1963) - W113, in a snowy alpine landscape with winter sports equipment

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Summary

The preconceptions about the new Mercedes-Benz 230 SL were that it was too luxurious for a sports car and too sporty for a luxury car. However, its designers deliberately opted for this interpretation. In the test at the time, the SL proved to be a car that did nothing perfectly, but was very good at a great many things - and the automatic transmission even made it both sportier and more luxurious.

This article contains the following chapters

Why is the 230 SL so heavy?
The good old machine
Automatic or not - always bourgeois
Chassis
Driving characteristics
All aboard
Three cars in one
Technical data and measurements

Estimated reading time: 19min

Preview (beginning of the article)

For the most part, we know very little about this car. Although we see it more and more often on the road, not everyone knows the people who drive it - and if we do, we don't really know whether the judgment of someone who paid between 21,000 and 25,000 marks for a car can still be objective. But you rarely read anything tangible about this car, because Daimler-Benz keeps the press very short with test cars. After all, it took two years from the launch to the test report in "automobil", and other magazines fared no better. This almost publicity-shy behavior with the 230 SL is not only very regrettable, it also prevents clear ideas about this car from finally forming. Under these conditions, two clearly defined but hardly fair views of the car have been able to emerge from the imagination. One party sees the SL as the dream car par excellence. In short, a thing from another world that makes it worthwhile to get rich or win the lottery. On the other side are those who fundamentally reject this car because, in their opinion, it runs counter to all ideas of a sporty automobile. The unfortunate thing about this clash of opinions is not only that most of them are not based on personal experience, but also that one of the car's essential characteristics is lost.

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