This makes for a timely follow-up to our recent CC of this car’s predecessor, the W108 250SE. What a difference ten years made back then: the 250SE had a small high-revving six, a somewhat jerky fluid-coupling automatic, swing axles and none or few of that comfort accessories expected in the American market of a very expensive luxury coupe.
The 350SLC was all-too obviously created with much greater focus on meeting the expectations of Americans as well as Europeans. Its 4.5 liter V8 was only offered here, as it wouldn’t become available in non-NA markets until March 1973. Obviously, the 350 badge was not truth-telling, a curious one-year anomaly for the 350 SL/SLC in MY 1972, as they both were re-badged as 450s in 1973. And the new V8 was backed by a torque converter three-speed automatic. And it came with air conditioning as standard equipment. The times they were a’ changing.
R&T weren’t the only ones surprised to see that the successor to the long-lived W111 coupe turned out to be based on the new R107 SL. Contrary to what was commonly assumed, the SLC wasn’t just a stretched SL; it had been planned and developed alongside the two seater from the get-go. But that would be the last time this would happen, as the SLC would eventually be replace by the W126 sedan-based SEC coupe.
As to its controversial styling, that was noted right near the top of the review. R&T’s staff were split as to whether it was deemed successful or not. I’m still not quite sure which side of the fence I come down on; it’s simply a mixed bag, and it looked better to me on some days than others. And from some angles than others.
Obviously the most controversial element was the rear-most side fixed side windows with the louvers. It was almost certainly the result of Mercedes’ inability let something as critical as rear-side vision be impaired by a fat C-Pillar, since there wasn’t enough room to lower the whole rear side glass into the body. A painful compromise.
Lots of standard equipment, which given its $15,000 ($100k adjusted) price might be expected, but still no power seat adjusters. But excellent ergonomics, and all the controls were carefully thought out highly functional. The big steering wheel was so big in part as to make the instruments more visible. Assembly quality was generally excellent, although there were a some minor niggles on this early production car: door handles and one seat adjuster were sticky, and the vacuum locking system wouldn’t lock the right door.
This car was driven cross-country, and it performed very well in the wide range of conditions, including the effective air conditioner.
The Benz’ drive train was of course a major departure from the Mercedes norm. It was quite American in its smooth manners, and performance was what one might rightfully expect in this class. That’s not to say it was a quick car; 0-60 took 10.9 seconds, and the 1/4 mile took 18.4 sec. at 80.5 mph. But given the low-compression, emission controlled times, it was deemed more than satisfactory. Fuel consumption was “heavy”, averaging 15.5 mpg in normal driving, but dropping to 12-13 mpg at higher highway cruising (80-90 mph) with the a/c on. The new automatic was deemed “outstanding”, with smooth but crisp shifts.
Ride, handling and braking were all “exemplary”. That’s pretty much to be expected from what was very much the state of the art at the times. No matter the road surface or conditions, the SLC took it all in (fast) stride. R&T summed it up succinctly: “For $15,000 one expects a lot–and in the SLC one gets it”.
Is it just me, or do others see the similarity (copy) of the base 1979 Mustang to the SLC?
Mainly in the C pillar effect, and in the plastic wheel covers, as well as sort of general proportions.
I noticed this when the all new 1979 Mustangs came out.
+1
It is, but at the same time Ford refined and improved the concept enough that the Mercedes seems to be a clunky rough draft by comparison. I’m sure that’s not the impression given in the driving, but the styling is another matter.
It’s not just you. It’s blatantly obvious and was widely recognized as being that at the time.
Oh yeah. Ford was on a Euro kick at that time. Dare I mention TRX tires? Some of the first metric sized tires used on a domestic vehicle.
I love how the padded steering wheel is described as a passive restraint device of the first order. ouch
I was a Valet at a fancy country club when these were out. Drove bunches of them. My general impression was that they were bought by people who liked the look of the SL, but were self-aware they would never put the top down, and maybe they wanted to occasionally transport a grandchild or 2.
I am surprised to learn the rear seat was rated to seat 3. I don’t think that would have been at all comfortable.
I met a couple in the mid-90’s who owned one. She had gotten it from her parents; he owned a Tercel. When they had their second kid, they got a Camry and didn’t need three cars. She wanted to keep the SLC, and he lived his Tercel. The Tercel lost. I rode in the SLC once … by then it felt very dated but plush in a classic European way.
In my shady used car days, my partner had a Euro-spec 350 SLC, with the 3.5 litre motor. Unfortunately, it had a four speed manual and my experience with manual DB cars was the shifter was awful, with very long throws. For that reason, the car was almost impossible to sell, hence the time I had with it. Even in those days,very few buyers would spend $10,000 on a manual shift car.
It was built like the proverbial tank and the 3.5 litre motor would rev like crazy. I personally saw 220 km/h on the clock and there was more speed left in it.
It was beautiful car and the modern MB coupes are not nearly as classy in my opinion.
Eh, I’d take the Valiant. 🙂
As much as I want to like them, as soon as you see the regular SL of the era this just ends up looking misbegotten, and let’s face it, half (or more than half) of the appeal to a lot of people is the looks and being seen in it.
Add in that the SL came with the hardtop that in some cases was never removed and beyond the small back seat there isn’t much use case for this relative to one of the other coupes on offer at the house of Karl and Gottlieb.
Today this is more of a rare oddity, whereas SLs of the era, whether one likes them or not, have a fairly devoted following.
I do like the competition in the little sidebar chart – this or the Jensen Interceptor or the Citroen SM. Wow. With hindsight I think I’d have the Jensen as I like the looks although the SM was regarded quite highly in its day, but no way as a used one on this continent.
The rear window fudge has reared its head in the the past two generations of E-Class coupe as well, although the size of the fixed rear side window is much smaller than that on the C107. I wonder if a dab hand at Photoshop could show what a proper glass fixed window with a black frame would look like, applied to, say, the blue SLC you showed here (in my opinion, the most elegant aspect of a pretty awkward looking car).
My parents wanted to take advantage of “personal import exemption” during the grey import boom in the early 1980s. The personal import exemption allowed the owners to drive the cars without the modifications for meeting the US emission and safety regulations. However, the owners were explicitly stipulated that the car must be at least five years old and that they cannot sell the car in the United States. That exemption was eliminated in 1988 when the Congress tightened up the grey import rules.
In 1982, we holidayed in Germany, visiting our relatives and friends there. At the same time, we were looking for Mercedes-Benz car to buy while taking advantage of weaker Deutsche Mark (it was DM 2.05 against $ 1 US). The first choice was a Swiss-registered 1971 350 SLC in brown metallic paint and ivory leather upholstery. It didn’t have air-conditioning, power locks, and electric windows. The second choice was a 1977 450 SEL in cypress green metallic and green velour upholstery along with rear hydropneumatic suspension, air-conditoning, power locks, and electric windows. My father did his trademark “pro and con list” of both models. Yet, I insisted on 450 SEL being more practical due to its four doors as well as more interior space and more powerful due to its bigger V8 engine than 350 SLC. Additionally, I pointed out that the Swiss-registered car would be too much of hassle with paperwork.
We were glad to pick 450 SEL over 350 SLC.
Autohaus on Edens was/is a big MB dealer in Northbrook, Illinois. I vividly remember a conversation there between a manager in the showroom and a well heeled, clearly frequent customer. She was elegant, casual and pompous and she carried it all well.
Her SLC was troublesome because the power windows were so very slow. She was right; they were – especially when compared to then current American cars. She wanted to know why on such a fine and expensive car she needed to put up with such slow windows.
It was an intriguing question. Her car was a fine, premium one which I could only aspire to own at sometime in the far distant future. I imagined that I might be able to live with the windows – given the sum of all the other remaining parts was still spectacular. Maybe she got a Cadillac; don’t know.
Strange, nobody’s bellyached about the quad round American headlamps yet. I think they look just fine.
Oh, the humanity!
…erp ehhp. eh-heh, well… oh yeah… I totes agree with your take!
You tempted fate, Mr Stern.
They look ok-ish on this American version, where the bumpers were in their teenage years compared to the pre-car (and post-car) Secret Service agent platforms they would very soon grow into, beginning to malform and deface only as Brougham-esque overriders at this point.
But the twin goggles per side look plain silly on the things as it should look (that is, sans Depardieu front chin and Beyonce bum), part of a smooth ’70’s techno-modern whole.
Something that popped out at me was the high speed cruising range of only 200 miles.
I just saw an independent range test of the new Mercedes EQS (electric). At a constant speed of 70 mph it did 344 miles, and advertises a 0-to-80% charge time (i.e. 275 miles) of 20 minutes.
Pro-rated, that means it can gain 200 miles of range in about 14 minutes.
As a very young man, I really liked these cars. To a slightly less extent the SL also. Of course they were out of my price range by a factor of 10 or more, and repairs would have been even moreso. And in retrospect, they were heavy, didn’t handle all that well, weren’t all that quick, but thirsty, and then really fit for the audience they were built for, Doctors wives etc.
But the SLC, and the SL, along with previous pagoda roof W113 SLs, really were lookers and not bad cars either. Like many upmarket German cars, and I speak as a devoted BMWphile here, the basic engine/tranny/mechanicals are incredibly rugged, but controls and electronics can bankrupt you if you get the wrong one.
Thanks for posting this. I’m working on a book on the entire history of the Buick Riviera, and I’m struck by how frightening this car would have been to the makers of American “prestige coupes”—if they had even thought of it as competition. Ceding the higher end/cost almost no object portion of the market can’t have felt good.
Well, I, for one, think them decidedly superior the SL. It may be that I am in fact THE one alone who ever has, but I stand firmly by my side.
They’re not pretty, as such, but the heavy-nosed, too-short SL isn’t a paragon that way either. The louvres look interesting, as if connected to some exotic thing like a Lamborghini or the like: why, is there another engine back there? Imagine the power of this beast!
The roof is genuinely interesting, as it narrows in from the body markedly in a way not done before, and that back window is practically a bay in its curvature.
The bonnet now doesn’t look overly-proboscussy as it does on the sibling, which hasn’t enough length of bottom in its boot to quite compensate.
I sometimes wonder, though, if some of my defence arises from a reverent childhood perception that Mercedes made The Best in the World, for they were Engineered Like No Other Car, and that as this machine out-priced even the SL, this must be the exotic best of that best. (And the tariff-squeezed prices here then were comical, this thing equating to at least one decent house).
But I don’t wonder for long, as I stand by myself at such a juncture, and back myself in. I am the buyer for one of these.
A pity they seem to have been the most rust-prone car Mercedes ever made, and there aren’t any left.