This is a very special success story extending over the past few decades. For the past and, for a time, the present of SL history, from the 300 SL (W 198 series, 1954 to 1957) to the R 129 SL series (1989 to 2001), are concentrated in the person of Sacco in a way that cannot be said of anyone else at Mercedes-Benz.
At the 2012 Rétromobile, Mercedes-Benz Classic commemorates a very special victory this year: 60 years ago the legendary 24-hour Le Mans race ended with a spectacular double victory, achieved with 300 SL (W 194 series) racing cars. The impressive racing successes of the “gullwing” became the basis for the worldwide fascination for the SL model series from Mercedes-Benz which has continued undiminished to the present day. The trade fair presentation is organised in coordination with Mercedes-Benz France.
Eternal youth is a miracle bestowed on only a small number of cars, and the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL coupe is one of this elite group. The Stuttgart-based brand unveiled its new sports car in February 1954 at the International Motor Sports Show in New York, and in so doing lit the fuse for an icon of the automotive world. With its flat, graceful body, the 300 SL had lost nothing of its freshness even as the millennium drew to a close and was voted “Sports car of the Century” in 1999. “Gullwing” doors provided that essential touch of inspiration, opening up towards the sky to reveal a tightly sculptured interior.
Following the Mercedes-Benz works team’s retirement from Formula 1 and the sports car world championship at the end of the 1955 season, the rallies claimed fans’ full attention as of 1956. The Mercedes vehicles competing on race courses all over the world were fielded for the most part by private teams. While the racing and racing sports cars of previous years had performed superlatively as elite fine-tuned high-end vehicles, the near-series passenger cars now demonstrated their solid credentials in the nitty-gritty of rally racing. Karl Kling was responsible for rally activities as sports director at Mercedes-Benz. In the wake of Alfred Neubauer’s retirement, the ex-racing driver thus assumed a degree of responsibility for upholding the race manager’s legend.
Elegant and sporty, powerful and confident: the Mercedes-Benz SL 107 model series launched in the spring of 1971 was a classic Roadster embodying the very brand values which sum up the inventor of the motor car. After the SL models of the 1950′s and the 113-series “Pagoda” SL, the 1971 sports car was the third generation of this vehicle family. And it was a model series which proved to be a runaway success: the Roadsters remained in production for a period spanning more than 18 years.