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It was no shock that the competition-bred Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing coupe set the world afire upon its debut, with its scintillating bodywork stretched over light-weight space-frame building, a potent fuel-injected inline six-cylinder engine, and naturally, the “gullwing” doorways that made it immediately iconic. It was equally unsurprising that such a well-liked mannequin would spawn a Roadster variant, one which, particularly, fed all of the vital North American market’s voracious urge for food for open sports activities vehicles.
Unveiled on the Geneva Salon in Could 1957, the 300 SL Roadster, distinguished by typical doorways, rapidly gained reputation among the many Fifties ‘jet set,’ together with royalty, actors, and socialites. To adapt to the open configuration, adjustments have been made to the cockpit space, redesigning the spaceframe for decrease sills to boost accessibility. Concurrently, the rear suspension underwent modifications to include low-pivot swing axles.
The Roadster not solely maintained the attract of the unique Gullwing but additionally elevated efficiency by making the beforehand optionally available 240-horsepower engine with a competition-derived camshaft commonplace. The rear suspension obtained an improve with a single-joint low-pivot swing axle for extra predictable dealing with.
Regardless of its greater value in comparison with a Ferrari 250 GT California Spider, the 300 SL Roadster bought properly for the primary 12 months it was produced with 554 models worldwide and out-live the 300SL Coupe by a number of years.
Photograph Supply: RM Sotheby’s
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