(first posted 6/13/2015) Half this story just sort of fell into my lap when I was researching my BMW piece. Then Paul’s callout for Convertible Week had me dusting off pics of this 190SL I’d caught in the mild autumn sun amid the congested Saturday morning Melbourne traffic.
So I went and did some more research, and… well… things got bigger…
Our story starts not at the beginning, but at its zenith.
The W196 Formula One ‘Type Monza’ body is perhaps the most beautiful Grand Prix car ever created. This particular body only appeared four times during two seasons, including twice at the fast Monza circuit where its streamlining could be used to full effect. It was not so popular with the team’s drivers because it obscured the corners of the car from their eye-line and the rest of the time a shorter open-wheeled body was used.
The W196 helped Juan Manuel Fangio win the World Championship for two years in a row; 1954 and 1955. This superb photo is by Louis Klemantaski. Note the complete passivity on Fangio’s face. Stirling Moss once said of his rival and sometime teammate; ‘The best classroom of all time was about two car lengths behind Juan Manuel Fangio.’
Moss, no slouch himself, was responsible for the single most iconic race win for Mercedes-Benz – breaking the time record at the 1955 Mille Miglia. 722 was a W196S 300SLR – essentially the same car as the 2.5 straight-eight Formula One racer but with a two-seater body to conform to sportscar racing regulations. Moss used this to his advantage; in the passenger seat during the race was bearded British motoring journalist Denis Jenkinson.
Legend has it that the Italian spectators believed Moss had won by Divine intervention.
Moss and Jenkinson had prepared for the 1000 mile race by traversing the entire road course five times beforehand. Notes were made of every hazard and full-throttle opportunity along the way, and transcribed to a scroll to be read by Jenkinson. With the unmuffled noise of the car precluding any talk, Moss and Jenkinson had an agreed set of hand gestures indicating the nature of the road directly ahead.
No-one had ever used navigation notes like this before. The spectators along the way saw a bearded man consulting a scroll and gesticulating with his hands, and apparently some thought Moss had brought along a priest who was reading from the scriptures and making signs of the cross.
The W196S was anticipated to be used in coupé form during the 1956 season, but after the tragedy at the 1955 Le Mans 24Hrs Mercedes-Benz withdrew from racing at the end of the year. Two coupés had already been built; both in silver but one with a blue tartan interior and one with red. After the race programme was cancelled, the red example was co-opted by racing head Rudi Uhlenhaut for his personal use. These two cars became known as the Uhlenhaut Coupés.
The Uhlenhaut Coupé was essentially a road-legal Formula One car. This magnesium alloy-skinned rocket weighed only 880 kg and was capable of a tested 170 mph. Uhlenhaut’s colleagues spoke of hearing his approach to work from 5 kilometres away. At some point, a muffler was deemed in order.
Rudolf Uhlenhaut, pictured with son Roger, was the father of the 300 sports racing programme. Since 1936 he had been in charge of the Mercedes-Benz racing department, and was responsible for the mighty W125 and W154 pre-war racers. An expert skier, he was also considered a more-than-capable driver, apparently beating Fangio’s own times in testing for the W196. His was a significant role in the Mercedes-Benz halo shining ever-so-bright.
But back to the beginnings.
In 1947, Uhlenhaut proposed a racer to the Board of Daimler-Benz and by 1952 he had prepared a Sports Leicht (Light) racing car around the 3 litre straight-six engine from the flagship of the road range. The engine was canted 50 degrees for a sleeker shape and a spaceframe used under the skin to save weight, but it created problems along the sides where a door might normally have been. This above example is one of the very early W194 300SL bodies; the driver entered over the bodyside via a hatch that included the side window and part of the roof. When the hatches were open they gave the impression of a car with gullwings.
From its first race, the W194 proved its mettle. It came second in the 1952 Mille Miglia in the hands of Karl Kling behind a Ferrari. The FIA were not happy with the entry hatches, and after the Mille Miglia Mercedes-Benz deepened the door openings into the body to about halfway down as the spaceframe still needed some height for its structural integrity. Soon after, it scored its first victory at Le Mans.
For the Nurburgring race, lighter-weight roadster versions of the W194 were used. The team snared the top four GT class places. Mercedes-Benz then pulled out of racing, apparently taken aback at the massive success garnered by these ‘parts-bin’ racers. Race team manager Alfred Neubauer had successfully argued with Uhlenhaut that a more powerful engine was needed, and development for the race-only 2.5 litre engine was to commence.
However, Mercedes-Benz were persuaded to enter the Carrera Panamerica in Mexico and fielded four cars. Despite Hermann Lang’s W194 sustaining frontal damage after striking a dog, and Kling’s windshield being shattered by a buzzard, the W194 team claimed first and second place in this gruelling event.
From seemingly out of nowhere, Mercedes-Benz had dominated the 1952 European sportcar racing calendar with these exotic-looking creatures. Across the sea Max Hoffman (right), seen here in New York with Ferry Porsche, was one man who understood the sales potential for these exciting new Mercedes-Benz coupés.
Hoffman was the son of a Austrian bicycle manufacturer, and had established a dealership of European cars in New York in the late 1940s. In his time he was to have Alfa Romeo, BMW, Fiat, Healey, Jaguar, MG, Porsche and Volkswagen cars sitting in his showrooms. By 1952, he was the US importer for Mercedes-Benz. When Frank Lloyd Wright designed his new showroom in 1955, Wright’s payment included two Mercedes-Benz cars as well as cash.
Like Luigi Chinetti Jr. with Ferrari, Hoffman’s vision contributed directly to the successes of Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and, later, BMW. He persuaded these manufacturers of the enormous potential of the US market, particularly in its growing appetite for sports cars. The BMW 507 and Porsche 356 Speedster were both created at his urging, and with Mercedes he proposed the building of two sports cars based on the 300SL.
Mercedes-Benz agreed to a point. One of the sportscars was to be a road-going version of the 300SL, and the other was to be a smaller open-topped roadster, the 190SL.
The prestigious styling brief for the W198 300SL road car was placed in the hands of Friedrich Geiger. The late 1953 sketch at top shows both wheelarches featuring the signature eyebrows, which in official parlance are water splash deflectors. I have lined up the greenhouses for these three stages to make it easier to gauge how the shape, wheel size and venting evolved.
The prototype was built around Lang’s damaged 1952 W194 sports racing car. It was taken to the Sindelfingen bodyworks to be dressed in Geiger’s suit.
Geiger’s roadcar shape was a masterpiece. As this photo demonstrates, the full volumes of the 1952 gullwing body were made increasingly spare as time went on. The bulbous contours of the 1952 W194 had been modified by Uhlenhaut for the single 1953 W194 (centre) which never competed. Known as the ‘carpenter’s plane’ for its chiselled nose contours, it was more aerodynamically efficient than its previous year’s siblings and established the tauter body language of the roadcar.
The 190SL roadster was based on more modest underpinnings. The platform from the W120 180 ‘Ponton’ saloon (above) was shortened, and a new 4 cyl engine derived from the 6 cyl 3 litre was to be used. This engine was also to power a saloon version of the W120 using essentially the same body, but confusingly designated W121 along with the anticipated roadster. I’ve seen the roadster also referenced as R121.
The cars differed greatly under the skin. The 300SL used a space frame that required high sills for the doors, and the 190SL used a platform-frame allowing full-depth doors.
The styling team responsible for the roadster under Walter Hacker included a young Paul Bracq. By late September 1953, these blueprints had been prepared. The visual proximity between this shape and its seniors is apparent, however the 190SL featured a separated rear-fender look. The bumpers were to be twin-bars connected at their extremities and the wheel arches did not feature the distinctive ‘eyebrow’ splash shields.
Two months later, the 190SL had undergone a little change. The bumpers were now solid affairs and a splash shield appeared over the front wheel arches.
The body built from the November 1953 plans became the 190SL prototype. Though not as graceful as its seniors, it was still a pleasing roadster shape.
With Hoffman having ordered 1000 units of the new sportscar, the 300SL coupe and 190SL roadster premiered at Herb Shriner’s Third Annual New York International Motor Sports Show in February 1954. Also on display were imports and exotica including the bizarre Packard Panther, the Touring-bodied Hudson Italia and a brace of Ferraris imported by Luigi Chinetti.
The star of the show was the 300SL with its racing provenance and distinctive cabin entrypoints translated almost exactly into a production model. The 190SL was also well-received, but could never be more than a sideshow to the main attraction.
The 190SL prototype had been rushed to completion, and after the New York showing it was shipped back to Germany where it was to undergo further development. While the prototype – seen here with Uhlenhaut and chief development engineer Fritz Nallinger – was taken to the road to identify and fettle its shortcomings, the shape of the model also needed rethinking.
By early August, the revised shape had been put to blueprint.
Walter Hacker, left, had added splash shields over the rear wheel arches as well the front.
Most of the shape’s evolution occurred at the front end of the car. The airscoop on the hood was replaced with a power bulge, and the contours around the grille were completely reworked.
The result was a much more pleasing design. The prototype’s awkward maw has been replaced with a nicer face. The top leading edge of the front clip was pulled up and forward as per the 300SL, and the grille set back into the body. The grille shape was also drawn directly from the senior coupe. While comparisons with the gullwing shape will always have the 190SL falling short, the styling team had improved substantially on the prototype.
Publicity stills were used to demonstrate the changes from the 1954 prototype. The interesting thing here is the scale model. While it features the airscoop and is lacking the splash shields, it has the forward front edge of the revised 190SL shape and seemingly flatter sides. It also has full radius wheelarches at the rear – a feature not seen on the blueprints. I wonder whether this model actually shows a transitionary phase between the prototype and the final shape.
Although its only a model, I find it the most attractive 190SL – a less embellished, tauter, sportier-looking body.
The revised W121 190SL was shown at the 1955 Geneva Motor Show and then released for sale. From 1955 to 1963, over 25,000 units were produced. Priced at roughly half the sticker of a gullwing, it offered almost the same amount of visual glamour.
The shape of the 190SL hardly changed during its eight year lifespan. A chrome strip was added to door tops and the taillights were enlarged in 1956. The most significant change was in 1959, when the rear window of the hardtop was enlarged.
Here it is on the magnificent Mercedes-Benz stand at the September 1955 Frankfurt Motor Show. By the end of that year, the Mercedes-Benz team had won the 1955 Formula One World Championship of Drivers – having also played a significant role in Fangio’s 1954 title – and the 1955 World Sportscar Championship.
Flush with their success, a W196 streamliner and 300SLR racer were suspended above the audience on tracks leading directly to the 300SL and 190SL road cars. Despite the Le Mans disaster and the fact that Mercedes-Benz had decided to pull out of racing at the end of the season, here was a stunning narrative display of the halo’s full effect.
The 190SL created a halo of its own. Here it matched with Grace Kelly’s radiance to woo Frank Sinatra into the passenger seat. While the 190SL was never going to be as sporting as the 300SL, it was still a lissome contender for the boulevardier stakes. What it did have over the 300SL was ease of access and open-air motoring.
Sometimes derided as a woman’s car, it was not necessarily so. As Paul Newman put it in this Harpers Bazaar spread; “Why do I love sports cars? Because – don’t laugh – the thrill of skimming along in a low slung speeder represents an important approach in life. A great many philosophers have said that the significance is the journey, not the destination – and sports car enthusiasts like going places, not getting places. My red Mercedes seems to sum it up perfectly.”
In its mother country, the 190SL’s halo was temporarily dimmed. In 1957, a courtesan named Rosemarie Nitribitt had been found murdered, and subsequent investigations led to the business and social elite of Germany. Nitribitt had been flaunting her scarlet-tinged money with a black 190SL, which earned for the model the moniker ‘whore’s taxi’.Total sales of the 190SL plunged from 4032 units in 1956 to 2722 units in 1958, the dip coming mostly from the European market due in no small part to the scandal. By 1959 sales had climbed back up to 3949.
With typical Mercedes-Benz attention to detail, the 190SL came with its own customised roadside assist truck.
Actually, no, that’s actually the legendary Renntransporter used to ferry the factory’s racing cars in a hurry. Using the same 6 cylinder engine as the 300SL, the Renntransporter was capable of speeds up to 105 mph. Which makes a great segue to the 190SL’s racing kit.
The Rennsport package (known as 190SLR) was a set of factory modifications to the roadster. Weight dropped to under 1000 kilos thanks to alloy doors, a smaller perspex windcsreen, no soft top, insulation, heat exchanger or production bumpers. When raced by importers, the 190SL scored a GT win at the Macao Sports Car Grand Prix ahead of a Ferrari Mondial and assorted Jaguars and Austin-Healeys, and a GT win at the Morocco Grand Prix of the same year.
With factory competition days behind them, Mercedes-Benz were relying on their two sporting roadcars to sustain the racier glow of their halo. The grille became emblematic of this halo. You’ll have noticed its evolution in this piece, the traditional upright grille had no place on the smooth sports racers and it was a while before the right shape was found for the aperture. There’s no generic descriptor for this shape, but it is an inspired piece of work. And the large three-pointed star was perfectly weighted as an element within.
The grille was seriously considered for even the lowliest Mercedes-Benz models. This is a styling proposal for the stillborn W122 series, a model planned to sit at the bottom of the saloon hierarchy. What’s remarkable is how naturally this grille sits with the conventional four-door body, and could quite conceivably been put to market in this form.
It’s taken Mercedes-Benz quite a few years to warm to the idea, and this type of grille arrangement can now be seen on some of the marque’s four and five door range – as well as their vans.
The 190SL came very close to shining its own halo back onto the 300SL.
A roadster had been on the cards for the W198 since quite early in its life. The gullwing doors, as distinctive and desirable though they were, were also a limiting factor for the W198. Not everyone enjoyed the adventure of literally climbing into the vehicle. A modified design for the space frame was formulated, and styling was briefed on the job.
Friedrich Geiger, who had done such a masterful job shaping the coupé, was tasked with the W198 update. These sketches, dated mid-1954, show rear-end treatments quite different to that on the coupe. The body in the middle shows a tail with rather pointed ‘ears’ similar to some Pinin Farina work on the Ferrari Superfast bodies. The large car appears to use a raised wingline with more rounded contours for the rear fender, a lot like that of the 190SL.
This was so seriously considered, it was taken to full-scale model stage. Whereas the 190SL’s rear lights sat at a bit of an inclined angle in body profile, the 300SL roadster was proposed with a more upright application.
From this view with taillights visible, the 190SL’s influence is more apparent. What’s even more interesting is the panel between the taillights that mirrored the grille shape upfront. It bears a marked similarity with the changes to the trunk of the Studebaker coupe body that became the 1956 Hawk series.
In 1957, dissatisfied with his attention to after-sales service, Mercedes-Benz ceased their arrangement for US imports with Max Hoffman. Studebaker-Packard, with its nationwide dealer network, was chosen in his place. But here, the coincidence of the two bodies predates the formal relationship.
Fortunately, saner heads prevailed and instead of a Duetto 300SL, the gorgeous rear end style of the gullwing was retained for the roadster. This is in many ways a prettier car than the gullwing. The bodyside carries more embellishment, but the chrome frame of the windscreen complements the curvature of this shape so well. It’s the new-style integrated headlight that becomes a keystone element of this shape, providing the perfect endcap to those flowing flanks.
As with the 190SL, a hardtop was to be offered for the 300SL roadster. This bizarre proposal made it to blueprint stage, but fortunately not to production.
Instead, this tidier shape was provided although I personally prefer the roadster topless.
And for those who wanted to extract the maximum performance from this machine, the 300SLS was available. I’d love one of those headlight blanks for my wall.
The 300SL roadster, known internally as the W198 II, replaced the gullwing at the top of the sportscar range and was produced between 1957 and 1963.
In 1957, the most significant change to the 190SL was considered. A 2.2 litre straight-six engine from the W180 220 saloon model was placed in four prototypes designated W127 and badged 220SL. This one appeared at Melbourne’s Motorclassica last year and is the only known example extant. It was never taken to production, primarily because of supply issues for the engine.
Instead, planning began on a single replacement for both the 300SL and 190SL.
As with the 300SL, the 190SL’s run ended in 1963. Today these are a much cherished – and relatively easily maintained – reminder of one of Mercedes-Benz brightest periods.
Further Reading:
Great writeup Don of a car I am quite familiar with,
From the age of 5 years old I walked to school past a pale blue 190 Benz though fitted with a factory hardtop the lady who owned it brought it from South Africa when she and her husband emigrated it was the first Mercedes I ever saw though a school friends parents later bought a SL 220, Said blue 190 looked better to a young me minus the bumpers I recall seeing it stripped of all trim on two seperate occasions when it was derusted by the panelbeaters next door the motor repair shop the owner worked in, the second time it didnt get repainted and wore primer around the wheel arches for the rest of the time I knew it, Gorgeous little car, the only time I saw it without the hardtop was at the panel shop the owner had a beehive hairdo that didnt mix well with openair motoring it also rains nearly everyday in my hometown so open cars are next to useless.
I’ll confess…as much as I wouldn’t mind owning a 190SL, to me it has some indelible associations with women drivers.
Legend has it that a successful and unhappily single copywriter named Helen Gurley scrimped and saved to pay cash for a barely used one in 1958. One week later, she was introduced to David Brown, and the following year became Helen Gurley Brown, who went on to fame as the editor of Cosmopolitan.
A 190SL is also the car that Tony Randall unsuccessfully attempted to give as a gift to Doris Day in Pillow Talk.
The interesting thing about the 190SL’s reputation as a an early “chick car” is how it also seemed to avoid derision and make its driver more appealing to men, which is often not the case.
That is, for some reason, the same thing I think about all roadsters and little sporty cars like this.
These are certainly neat vehicles with interesting history-but give me the big ‘un!
Interesting Mercedes-Benz history lessons here.
Further back in history, the pre-war Mercedes-Benz (and Auto Union) racing cars have always fascinated me, especially the ultra-aerodynamic Rekordwagens. To me they (still) look like things from outer space.
The Rekordwagen W125 below still holds the speed-rekord achieved on a public road; that’s 432.7 km/h, set in January 1938. Being the average speed of 2 runs, over 1 kilometer each. The engine is a 736 hp 5.6 liter V12.
This one never ran, but it hangs on the wall now like a giant stingray trophy.
Thanks for the writeup on this interesting model. To be able to pull off such a chic design while using more pedestrian mechanicals really hit the sweet spot of the market. To use so many nods to American design and yet be unmistakably German was a feat to pull off. These were going to have to sell in USA, and these did to all the right people.
I am sorry these 4 cyl. models did not continue into the next generations. The gas 4 needed more work to be as pleasant to drive as the competing BMW or Alfa 4s. A profitable, glamorous 190SL could have provided the impetous to get the work done. This then would have transferred to the sedans. The way Mustangs/Camaro led to better small block V-8s.
Instead when the idea was retried by MB in the 90s with the SLK, it was again held back by it’s inelegant engine. I wonder if the MB engineers just didn’t think the 4 was important, thought the longevity of the engine was all that mattered, or that the weights of the cars was just too high so the engines had to be too big to be smooth?
To be honest, John, I know very little about engines. The 4-cyl 180 was being supplemented by the 6-cyl 190 – which was the format that then moved above 2 litres. Maybe using the six allowed for better upwards development.
What I was getting at was the lack of a proper, sporting 4-cyl in these. I think that is why they did not last into future generations. In America, a lackluster 2.3 gas four was the entry level in W114, W123 once emissions bit. If a twin cam, fuel injected smooth 1.9 liter had been developed for later generations of 190SL, and later found a home in the W114 they might have led fewer buyers into the diesels. I don’t think a diesel 240D was really a good choice for many entry level luxury buyers. Even many years later, an 83 190e would have benefited greatly from such an engine. Admitingly, I am going too far into an alternative reality tangent.
Amazing write up and a beautiful car. Classic MB products can have a jewel like quality to their styling points.
My immediate reaction to those rather prominent “eyebrow splash guards” on the fenders of the lead photo was not completely positive. My mind sprang to the 1950 Lincoln Cosmopolitan, a beautiful car in its own way, but also featuring some fender lumps that seemed a bit tacked on at best.
You beat me to it. These are the only two cars that come to my mind that had these “splash guards”, although I never knew what they were until now. The Mercedes is a looker but for all day cruising I’d go for the Lincoln.
I think the splash guards first appeared on the W196 streamliner, and only on the front wheels. I also suspect in this form they actually had a function that was then used as a signature. The streamliners, being fully enveloped in a world of open-wheelers, brought their own issues.
Very interesting read. This is a car that has always fascinated me. While I never thought of any Mercedes as a “chicks car” the brand overall did signify pretension to me for quite a spell. Now it just means engineering excellence.
Good job with the research and written very well. Thanks
Bravo! This is the best write-up of this car and its rich history (and relative) I’ve come across. Thanks for a great read and addition to our archives.
Needless to say, Mercedes of the late 50s played a huge part of my early automotive obsession, dominated by the 300SL. The 190SL lived in the shadow of that car. It was pegged as a bit of a Damensportwagen right from the get-go, although 99.9% of those calling it that would have killed to actually own one.
Well, it really could have used a lustier engine; either a more highly developed version of its four, or better yet, the 2.2L six from the 220S sedan. If Mercedes had done that, it undoubtedly would have benefited in both actual performance as well as image.
When we lived in West LA in the late 70s, there was a neighbor down the street that had a exquisite black 300SL roadster. Rarely have I obsessed more over a car than that one. It had about 300% more gravitas than a 190SL, which always did look a bit less than genuinely athletic to me; a bit soft and pudgy, especially to the rear. The 300SL roadster was like a race horse, its skin taut with muscles bulging under it.
But the front end of the 190SL is splendid, and I’d certainly could live with one. Although I since I gave up lusting for a 300SL roadster, I transferred that to a Pagoda SL. But I’m afraid I waited too long for that too…. 🙁
Of the street cars, I think the roadster is the most beautiful. I didn’t come across any images of the gullwing with the larger headlight pods, but I think that’s why I like the roadster the most. Appreciate the opportunity.
What a fantastic write up to greet me with my morning coffee. Don did such a great job on this I’m going to go ahead and re-read it right now. These cars have always been on my MM list, big time. Thanks for another great, well researched article. The photo’s and illustrations are outstanding as well. Write ups such as this is why I’m so addicted to CC.
Best read I’ve had in ages. Always confused by the different 300 series coupes, but the W196s was my favourite. Knowing only two were made makes it easier to accept that I will never see one.
Always intrigued by the “splash guards”. As styling affectations they are acceptable (though not with chrome trims a-la 190 SL) but even the F1 single seater used them on the front !
Note that when Moss and Fangio were team-mates, Fangio was in his 40s and Moss a considerable 18 years younger.
Odd that the single seat 300SLS came with steel wheels and hub-caps.
Didn’t look too deeply into the SLS, though obviously there was a two-seat version. Full width screen would have been one option, maybe lighter wheels another. How much M-B supported racing covertly during this period, I’m not sure.
Fangio will always be my man, but recently read a book by Alf Francis that include Stiring Moss’ very early races. Moss was possibly the greatest driver never to have won the World Championship, but versatile like no-one’s business. Dropped out in 1962 after the accident and has outlived almost all of them. Except Ecclestone.
Brilliant Sunday morning read, thanks! I’ve got a thing for the industrial design aesthetic of the wirtschaftswunder, great to see the car presented with a context.
I enjoyed this, thanks. I have first hand knowledge of the 190SL when it was new.
My dad was an aviation engineer who frequently worked in Europe in the late ’50s and early ’60s. Engineers at his company liked Mercedes cars and there were several in the company parking lot. He liked them too and brought one home from Germany in 1957. It was a a 220S and totally out of place in a neighborhood of Oldsmobiles. He liked it so he bought another Mercedes the next year – a ’58 190SL. He used the 190SL; my mom got to drive the 220S.
The SL came from the local Studebaker/Packard/Mercedes dealership. My dad looked at the VW KG but for some reason it just was not good enough and he bought the 190SL. It was a creamy white with sumptuous red leather interior (including a third seat mounted sideways behind the two buckets). Convertible top was black and the hardtop was black. He used this car daily.
The car was kept three years and sold to buyer who lived just five or six blocks away. The reason for the sale was his promotion which included a company car. So to SL was not needed and was replaced as a daily driver for him by a silver ’61 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 four door sedan.
I remember those two Mercedes vividly and they were certainly the impetus for my lifelong interest in that brand and purchase of six cars of the star over the years.
The Olds must have been quite good for a company car, and fit into your neighbourhood well, but I’m wondering if it was a comedown after all those years of driving a Mercedes?
Excellent write-up Don. I got to see a 300SL tjat was parked on Albert Park during the GP days this year.
This being the first time I saw its engine, when I saw the plenum I though someone made a swap, but no, it was FI. I couldn’t peek further in as the access was limited and the owners were there, but I could put money that engine uses direct injection, as the injectors were installed in the head and no the intake runners.
The pictures of the chassis are Mechanical Engineering eye candy. It would be nice to run that 300SL chassis through modern FEA to see how it behaves. An easy enough job as the space frame is tubular (2-3 days drafting it) and the simulation time would be no more than 5 minutes.
The 190 floopan seems pretty strong, specially on the sides.
Well, I took some time to investigate… not too long sadly.
This Tamiya kit, scaled back to 1:1 may help with the structure: http://www.tamiya.com/english/products/24338/index.htm
By watching the frame carefully, it is easy to see why Uhlenhaut couldn’t make normal door openings (provided the body didn’t do structural work). The lack of side support would have made the front and rear sections of the car feel “disconnected”. That would have also made the main twisting and bending modes happen at low frequencies, making the car undrivable in racing conditions.
I wonder how he calculated/tested it.
Don’t know, but the bracing meets a point at the door rear bottom corner, and this is the point where the tunnel bracing holds the middle together.
That was a bit of loud thinking. Nowadays there are all sort of toys to excite the structure and get the data you want.
If you notice, the floor area is almost empty. The connection to the back is made were the doors would sit in a normal car. Without that, the structure would be terrible when bending or twisting.
By the look of it, you could put either a coupe or convertible body on top of that, which he did, and “little” would change. I didn’t investigate much (although it is a super interesting car) but I would think the top hat is not structural.
I was looking at the roadster’s frame towards the end of the story. I should put it together with the gullwing’s frame to highlight the differences. Haven’t read anything about excess flex in the convertible.
They probably stiffened the centre part of the car, via possibly some chassis rails and additional bracing to compensate for the (now required) lower lateral structure.
An excellent treatment of an excellent car. Well done!
These cars have always been in the “beautiful but completely unobtainable ” category for me. Your explanation of the relationship between the 300 and the 190 fills in some big blanks in my understanding of things.
I would be quite happy with Paul Newman’s chick car. But I wonder which of those two happy ladies is about to be disappointed to find that there is no room in the car for her. 🙂
I forgot to mention one of the things that always bugged me about the 190SL: the little 13″ wheels. That was a very unfortunate choice, as it really accentuates its struggle to be taken seriously as a proper sports car, and underscores its Damensportwagen image.
Then there’s its exhaust. Ever heard one? Sounds utterly muted, just like the 190 sedan’s.
I love the front half of this car. But the rear looks like it melted in the sun, and the little wheels and engine really disappoint. A mixed bag. And in those regards, quite unlike the 300SL roadster of the Pagoda SLs.
If you like high-end and very well detailed 1:18 diecast models of pre- and post-war Mercedes racing- and sports cars, then the CMC models are highly recommended.
Here’s their 1955 300 SLR Uhlenhaut.
Thanks for the great article, filled out much of my spotty M-B knowledge. CC is a daily visit must just for well-researched and written articles such as this.
The W122 prototype’s frontal styling immediately reminded me of the Willys Aero. If introduced, hopefully it would have been more successful than the hapless Willys.
My, I’d part with good money for this piece as a pricey coffee-table book. Just wonderful stuff.
Where IS our good Dr Don, I wonder?
In my teens and twenties I was enamoured with the style of 190SL. I thought that the lack of performance could be be fixed by the supercharger kits that were being advertised, possibly with the addition of an Abarth exhaust. Now I still love the look but I would be happy with the stock performance. I am no longer in such a hurry. Unfortunately the cost has risen faster than my assets.
The current Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has a 300SL that he inherited from his father former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. He bought it new in 1960. How does that compare to Biden’s Corvette? Both are wonderful but I would go with the Mercedes.
Great writeup on the SL history. The 300SL has been an all-time favorite for me, even from an early age when most youngers would go for a flashier car. Of course, it’s out of reach for me to ever own one, unfortunately.
Here’s a pic of FLW with his 300 and Saloon at Taliesin, presumably the ones he received as a gift from Max Hoffman?