Having written about the 60th anniversary of one the most well-known and beloved cars – not too strong a word, I think, although there are always naysayers – in motoring history, this week we’re covering another anniversary, this time the 50th, of a pair of classics that have for all their enduring popularity, and lengthy production runs, flown a little under the radar in terms of value and have perhaps also been overshadowed by the exalted status of their immediate predecessors.
Before the R107 and C107, there were these beauties.
That car is the Mercedes-Benz R107/C107 or SL and SLC, roadster and coupé, launched in 1971 and in the case of the SL, built continuously until 1989 with very little in the way of external changes during that period, although that’s not to say it remained unaltered.
As with some other stalwarts of the classic car scene such as the TR series, MGB and of course the E-Type, SL’s and SLC’s – particularly the former – show up at virtually every classic event to the point where to see one attracts relatively little attention. For me, the R/C107 represent the end of what I consider to be over three decades of Sindelfingen’s most elegant period when it comes to saloons, coupés and roadsters. Their direct predecessors – the 190SL and the “Pagoda” series in the case of the R107 and W111 for the C107 – set a very high bar in terms of elegance, and their prices reflect their desirability, regularly passing six-figures in sterling. Yet the R/C107 – effortlessly handsome, if not quite as exquisite – can be bought for well under our theoretical Prime Find £20k budget ceiling, and while at such prices, they won’t be anywhere near concours, they will be perfectly useable. True, the very best examples can fetch over £40k – Historics recently sold an SL for £72k, although it was admittedly an astonishingly low mileage example – but they, and other auction houses, regularly sell them for £12-20k.
Indeed – you could almost describe the R/C107 as “everyday classics”, so common are they and for the most part, so reasonably priced. So let’s go back to 1971 and the introduction of the R/C107 as the new Mercedes-Benz SL and SLC…
Based on the floorpan of the W114 saloon and using engines from the W108, W109 and W111 series, but with a completely new body, the SL was a two-seater roadster with soft and hard-tops, the SLC a two-door but four-seater big coupé. The SL emerged first, in April 1971, with the SLC following on some six months later.
The two shared very similar styling up to and including the doors, with 13 inches added to the wheelbase to give the SLC it’s extra seats in the back, and the car is also easily recognisable by the small slats embedded in the rear three-quarter windows, which roll right down to give the SLC that cool pillarless look. In some respects, the E-Type 2+2 is a similar – and earlier – concept, but unlike the Jag, the Mercedes looks like it was always meant to seat four.
Both cars also look very similar at the back, with the self-cleaning ridged tail-lights that were to become a feature of all Mercedes Benz models for several years thereafter. The SL and SLC also shared the same engines ranging from 2.8-litre six-cylinders to – eventually – 5.6-litre V8’s. The full range of model names – which also reflected the engine sizes – was as follows:-
280 SL, 280 SLC, 300 SL, 350SL, 350SLC, 380SL, 380SLC, 420SL, 450SL, 450SLC, 450SLC 5.0, 500SL, 500SLC and 560 SL. The 280 and 300 were straight 6-cylinder engines, the rest were V8’s. Remember this – there’ll be a test later.
While it’s true to say that the smaller-engined versions were more cruisers than sportscars, the V8’s, especially at the higher end, provided some genuine sporting, if not sports, performance. The Pagoda and W111 had enjoyed considerable sales success in North America, and this was even more the case with the R/C107’s, with some 2/3rds of all those built being sold there – 204,373 out of a total of 300,175 produced.
Such volumes made it worthwhile adapting the cars to conform to the demands of ever-increasing safety and emissions regulations and North American market cars are easily distinguishable from their European counterparts, the former having dual headlamps and, from 1974, much heavier bumpers – for me, they ruin the car’s subtle elegance, but their numbers mean that more and more of them are cropping up for sale here. Perhaps the most famous SL in North America – and beyond – was the 500SL driven by Bobby Ewing in the Dallas TV series, followed closely by the SL featured in Hart to Hart.
Both SL and SLC were initially made available with the 3.5-litre V8 – offering quite a step up in performance over their predecessors, pushing out 197bhp and making a top speed of 212kmh/132mph attainable.
In 1974, the 350’s were joined by 2.8-litre 6-cylinder versions, and in 1977 the SLC 450 5.0 was introduced (ruining the previously neat model number/engine size relationship), but this was brought in with a particular and unlikely goal – to homologate the 450SLC for entry into the 1978 World Rally Championship – making the big coupé perhaps one of the most incongruous of rally cars. And yet, these cars, designed more for autobahn cruising than ploughing across muddy rally routes, did well, including an outright victory at the Argentine Rally.
1980 saw the 350 and 450 models of both body types discontinued and replaced by the 380 and 500 versions, while the 280 remained the entry-level car. In SLC form these were short-lived, as production was brought to a halt the following year, to be replaced by a bigger, sleek and almost as attractive coupé, based on the S-Class saloon, the SEC.
SLC to SEC
Meanwhile the SL continued being built and was updated yet again in 1985 with the 280 being succeeded by the 300, and the 380 by the 420. Do keep up at the back. Other than the introduction of a 560SL for the US, Australian and Japanese markets, these engines saw the SL through to the end of its lifespan, with the last R107 to be built, a Signal Red 500SL, leaving the factory on August 4th 1989.
While the SL had relatively few direct rivals – the Jaguar E-Type roadster for a few years, and its successor XJS in convertible form, for example – there were plenty of big coupes on the market during this period to compete with the SLC for market and wallet share; FIAT’s beautiful Pininfarina-designed 130 Coupe, the Jaguar XJ-C and XJ-S, Porsche’s bullet-shaped and very fast 928, or Citroen’s avant-garde Maserati-engined SM, to name but four. Oh, and not forgetting BMW’s E9 and 6-series.
The definition of being spoilt for choice.
The interiors of SL’s and SLC’s are very nice places to spend some time – typically large steering wheel, M-Tex, leather or fabric seats, well-equipped facias, all added to the general air of comfortable grand tourer, rather than sports car -something which was also true of the Pagoda. Our own Claus Ebberfeld can vouch for this, sitting as he does behind the wheel of his own SLC. Later cars would come with electric windows and door mirror, lots of wood veneer and even heated seats. Some viewed – still view – the R107 as a hairdresser’s car (apparently this is an insult), especially the 185bhp 280SL, but if you could stretch to the 450SL, an easy 225bhp was on tap, making 218kmh (135mph) possible, and effortless cruising at 160kmh.
I like the SL in particular a lot – in fact, I considered one before settling on my 280CE, the deciding factor being its relative exclusivity in comparison to the SL. It’s not hard to understand the appeal of either SL or SLC – elegant, understated, discreet, comfortable, beautifully engineered, more than adequate performance – and very well supported by the factory as well as the Mercedes-Benz Club and numerous specialists.
These are among the last cars from an era when Mercedes’ build and engineering quality was as good as any other manufacturer on the planet. They were beautifully put together, and at the higher end, very well equipped (although that’s not something you could say about earlier and lower-end versions). They’re discreet, with nothing flash or blingy about either of them – although some have had aftermarket skirts and wheel-arch extensions among other things inflicted on them – unnecessary, in my view.
After 50 years, the R107 and C107 retain their popularity among classic car enthusiasts, still look good today and while decent examples can still be bought without breaking the bank, values are on the rise, particularly since Pagoda’s have gone beyond the reach of most mortals, so if you’re hankering after a classic Mercedes convertible or coupé, maybe now’s the time to fulfil that wish.
