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300SL
The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (chassis code W 198) is a two-seat sports car which was produced by Mercedes-Benz as a gullwinged coupe (1954–1957) and roadster (1957–1963).Werner Oswald: ''Mercedes-Benz Personenwagen 1945–1985''. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, , S. 46 u. 70. It was based on the company's 1952 racer, the W194, with mechanical direct fuel injection which boosted power almost 50 percent in its three-liter overhead camshaft straight-six engine. Capable of reaching a top speed of up to , it was a sports car racing champion and the fastest production car of its time. Max Hoffman, Mercedes-Benz's United States importer at the time, inspired the 300 SL and saw an American market for such a car. The company introduced the 300 SL in February 1954 at the International Motor Sports Show in New York City (instead of Europe) to get it into US buyers' hands sooner. SL is the short form for "super-light" in German (super-leicht)Benjamin Bessinger: Mercedes-Konzerna ...
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Grand Tourer
A grand tourer (GT) is a type of car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving, due to a combination of performance and luxury attributes. The most common format is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-door coupé with either a two-seat or a 2+2 arrangement. Grand tourers are most often the coupé derivative of luxury saloons or sedans. The term is a near-calque from the Italian language phrase ''gran turismo'' which became popular in the English language from the 1950s, evolving from fast touring cars and streamlined closed sports cars during the 1930s. Origin in Europe The grand touring car concept originated in Europe in the early 1950s, especially with the 1951 introduction of the Lancia Aurelia B20 GT, and features notable luminaries of Italian automotive history such as Vittorio Jano, Enzo Ferrari and Johnny Lurani. Motorsports became important in the evolution of the grand touring concept, and grand touring entries are important in endurance sports- ...
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Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Mercedes-Benz AG produces consumer luxury vehicles and commercial vehicles badged as Mercedes-Benz. From November 2019 onwards, Mercedes-Benz-badged heavy commercial vehicles (trucks and buses) are managed by Daimler Truck, a former part of the Mercedes-Benz Group turned into an independent company in late 2021. In 2018, Mercedes-Benz was the largest brand of premium vehicles in the world, having sold 2.31 million passenger cars. The brand's origins lie in Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft's 1901 Mercedes and Carl Benz's 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen, which is widely regarded as the first internal combustion engine in a self-propelled automobile. The slogan for the brand is "the best or nothing". Hi ...
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Mercedes-Benz M186 Engine
The Mercedes Benz M186 Engine was a 3.0–litre single overhead camshaft inline-6 developed in the early 1950s to power the company's new flagship 300 "Adenauer" (W186) four-door saloon. It made its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in April 1951. Designed to give reliable service under prolonged hard use, the iron block/aluminum head engine featured deep water jackets, an innovative diagonal head-to-block joint that allowed for oversized intake and exhaust valves, reverse-flow cylinder head, thermostatically controlled oil cooling, copper-lead bearings, and a hardened crankshaft. Variants of the M186 went on to be used in the exclusive 300 S/300 Sc gran tourer, iconic gullwing 300SL sports car, and Mercedes top-end 300-series sedans and limousines, and coupes of the early to mid-1960s. Production ended in 1967, four years after the introduction of the 600 ''Grosser Mercedes'' and the M100 V-8. The various versions of the engine (M186 – M199) produced from as compression ...
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Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG (C197 / R197) is a front mid-engine, 2-seater, limited production grand tourer developed by the Mercedes-AMG division of German automotive manufacturer Mercedes-Benz, with the assistance of David Coulthard. The car is the successor to the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren and was described by Mercedes-Benz as a spiritual successor to the Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing, mainly because it was inspired by the latter. SLS stands for "Super Leicht Sport" (Super Light Sport). The SLS was the first Mercedes-Benz automobile designed and built from scratch entirely by AMG. Upon its introduction at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, the SLS AMG's M159 engine was according to AMG "the world's most powerful naturally aspirated production series engine" ever produced. An electric version of the car, the SLS AMG Electric Drive, was presented at the 2012 Paris Motor Show. Production ended in 2014 with the introduction of the SLS AMG GT Final Edition. As compared to its prede ...
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Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR
The Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR (W 196 S) was a 2-seat sports racing car that took part in the 1955 World Sportscar Championship before a catastrophic crash and fire at Le Mans later that year ended its domination prematurely. The car was designated "SL-R" (for ''Sport Leicht-Rennen'', eng: ''Sport Light-Racing''), which was later condensed to "SLR". Technically, the W 196 S is based on the W 196 R, but has a slightly different engine, displacing 3 litres. Just as the W 196 R Formula One racer's M 196 R engine, the W 196 S's M 196 S engine is a direct-injected 3-litre straight 8 engine (but with a 78 mm bore and stroke); its rated power is . The W 196 S's '' monoposto'' driving position was modified to standard two-abreast seating, headlights were added, and a few other changes made to adapt a strictly track competitor to a 24-hour road/track sports racer. Two of the nine 300 SLR rolling c ...
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Mercedes-Benz W194
The Mercedes-Benz W194 (also 300 SL) is the Mercedes-Benz entry for the 1952 Sportscar racing season, its first after World War II. Powered by a 3.0 litre SOHC straight-6, it ran off an impressive string of victories that included 1952 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Le Mans, Bern-Bremgarten bei Bern, Bremgarten, the Eifelrennen at Nürburgring, and Mexico's Carrera Panamericana.The 1952 Mercedes Benz 300 SL Racing Sport Coupe
, ''emercedesbenz.com''
Only ten W194s were made. It was succeeded by the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR. This led to the iconic Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, Mercedes 300 SL W198 Gullwing road car in 1954.


Design

The racing W194 300 SL was buil ...
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Max Hoffman
Maximilian Edwin Hoffman (12 November 1904 in Vienna, Austria – 9 August 1981), was an Austrian-born, New York-based importer of luxury European automobiles into the United States during the 1950s. Known equally for his acumen and influence, Hoffman was instrumental in development and refinement of several iconic luxury sports cars, including the Mercedes-Benz 300SL ''Gullwing'', Porsche 356 ''Speedster'', and V-8 powered BMW 507 roadster. Hoffman's contributions to both automobile development and sports car racing earned him induction into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2003. Both his home in Rye, New York, and Park Avenue Jaguar showroom in Manhattan were designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Career Hoffman's dealers made requests through him, both for existing models and new types they thought their customers would purchase in the booming post-war American market. The most famous result of Hoffman's suggestions is the Mercedes-Benz 300SL "gullwing". More ...
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Gull-wing Door
In the automotive industry, a gull-wing door, also known as a falcon-wing door or an up-door, is a car door that is hinged at the roof rather than the side, as pioneered by Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, first as a race car in 1952 ( W194), and then as a production sports car in 1954. Opening upwards, the doors evoke the image of a seagull's wings. In French, they are (butterfly doors). The papillon door was designed by Jean Bugatti for the 1939 Type 64, 14 years before Mercedes-Benz produced its similar, famous 300 SL gullwing door. The papillon door is a precursor to the gullwing door, and is slightly different in its architecture, but is often overlooked when discussing gull-wing design. Conventional car doors are typically hinged at the front-facing edge of the door, with the door swinging outward horizontally. Apart from the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL of the mid-1950s, Mercedes-Benz SLS and the experimental Mercedes-Benz C111 of the early 1970s, the best-known examples of road-cars w ...
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Mercedes-Benz 190 SL
: ''See Mercedes-Benz SL-Class for a complete overview of all SL-Class models.'' The Mercedes-Benz 190 SL (W121) is a two-door luxury roadster produced by Mercedes-Benz between May 1955 and February 1963. Internally referred to as W121 (BII or B2), it was first shown in prototype at the 1954 New York Auto Show, and was available with an optional removable hardtop. The 190 SL presented an attractive, more affordable alternative to the exclusive Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, sharing its basic styling, engineering, detailing, and fully independent suspension. Both cars had double wishbones in front and swing axles at the rear. Instead of the 300 SL's expensive purpose-built W198 tubular spaceframe, the 190 SL's R121 structure used a shortened unitary floorpan modified from the W121 base saloon. The 190 SL was powered by a new, slightly oversquare Type M121 BII 1.9 L straight-four SOHC engine. Based on the 300 SL's straight six, it had an unchanged 85 mm bore and 4.3 mm red ...
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Mercedes-Benz W188
The Mercedes-Benz W188 was a two-door luxury sports tourer produced by Mercedes-Benz between 1951 and 1958. The company's most expensive and exclusive automobiles, the elegant, hand-built 300 S (1951-1954) and its successor 300 Sc (1955-1958) were the pinnacle of the Mercedes line of their era. The pair's conservative styling belied their technological advances, sharing numerous design innovations and mechanical components with the iconic Mercedes-Benz 300 SL "Gullwing", including engine, suspension, and chassis. 300 S The hand-built two-door 300 S (W188) was Mercedes-Benz's top-end vehicle on its introduction at the Paris Salon in October 1951. It was available as a 2-seat roadster, 2+2 coupé, and cabriolet (with landau bars, officially ''Cabriolet A''). Although mechanically similar to the much larger contemporary four-door 300 (W186), the additional craftsmanship, visual elegance, and 50% higher price tag elevated the W188 to the apex of its era's luxury cars. The 300 S w ...
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Mercedes-Benz W113
: ''See Mercedes-Benz SL-Class for a complete overview of all SL-Class models.'' The Mercedes-Benz W 113 is a two-seat roadster/coupé, introduced at the 1963 Geneva Motor Show, and produced from 1963 through 1971. It replaced both the 300 SL ( W 198) and the 190 SL ( W 121 BII). Of the 48,912 W 113 SLs produced, 19,440 were sold in the US. The W 113 SL was developed under the auspices of Mercedes-Benz Technical Director Fritz Nallinger, Chief Engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut and Head of Styling Friedrich Geiger. The lead designers were Paul Bracq and Béla Barényi, who created its patented, slightly concave hardtop, which inspired the "Pagoda" nickname. All models were equipped with an inline-six cylinder engine with multi-port fuel injection. The bonnet, boot lid, door skins and tonneau cover were made of aluminum to reduce weight. The comparatively short and wide chassis, combined with an excellent suspension, powerful brakes and radial tires gave the ...
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Sports Car Racing
Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is one of the main types of circuit auto racing, alongside open-wheel single-seater racing (such as Formula One), touring car racing (such as the British Touring Car Championship, which is based on 'saloon cars' as opposed to the 'exotics' seen in sports cars) and stock car racing (such as NASCAR). Sports car races are often, though not always, endurance races that are run over relatively large distances, and there is usually a larger emphasis placed on the reliability and efficiency of the car as opposed to outright speed of the driver. The FIA World Endurance Championship is an example of a sports car racing series. A type of hybrid between the purism of open-wheelers and the familiarity of touring car racing, this style is often associate ...
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