Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (R107) - a youthful classic with a legendary name
Summary
Between 1971 and 1989, Mercedes built the R107 and the coupé variant C107 as the 280 SL to 560 SL and 280 SLC to 500 SLC respectively. Commercially, the model series was a great success and the R107 was the longest-built SL ever; the predecessors W198, W113 and the successors were all built over much shorter periods of time. The last examples of the R107 series became classics from the assembly line and today, together with their older brothers, enjoy a large fan community.
This article contains the following chapters
- Well-known
- Initially scorned and disregarded
- Committed to safety and comfort
- Not a sports car? SL?
- Long runners live longer
- Rebirth of the 300 SL in 1985
- Not new, but almost
- Rear-view mirror costs extra
- Born to be a classic
- Not cheap, but of high quality
- Exception: manual transmission
- Still contemporary and suitable for everyday use today
- Further information
Estimated reading time: 9min
Preview (beginning of the article)
Richard Gere drove a black one as "American Gigolo" in the film of the same name, Jennifer Hart drove a yellow one in the TV series "Hart aber herzlich" and Bobby Ewing chauffeured his wife Pamela around Dallas in a red Mercedes-Benz SL R107. The open-top Mercedes-Benz 280-560 SL, which was built between 1971 and 1989 and was known internally as the R107, is not only known for its many appearances in films and television. You can still often see it today in normal road traffic, in use as an everyday vehicle. It looks classically elegant today, but appeared ostentatious and oversized when it was presented in 1971.
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