In 1963, we all got treated to a Mercedes sports car which we may be able to afford. It was pretty much a M/B220 shortened by the length of the rear seats and foot well, and being a Mercedes means that it was built to standards which much of the rest of the world did not understand.
Note the lack of rubber noses, huge bumpers and over-riders. Safety was built in from the get-go, not something thought about after the horse had bolted.
It was powered by a 2.3 L, fuel injected straight six which gave it 125 mph on the Autobahn, putting it in the league of the fastest TR’s of the day. Unlike the TRs, the soft-top fitted well and was not the whistle inducing, leaking, flapping things that were British soft tops.
There was a hard top too, Pagoda style which could be bolted to it, and if you could afford the car, you could afford somewhere to store the hard top.
Everything about the car is neat, nicely squared off. The front is typical Mercedes, the large ‘Star’ and vertical headlight binnacles. At the back, nicely formed rear lights and another ‘Star’ which reminded you that you have good taste.
In-between, it looks like this..
Note the padding in the wheel centre and along the top and lower edges of the dashboard.
The 230 SL was a in a different league to the British TRs and Big Healeys. The car was refined, not the kind where you had to hang on for dear life, fighting with the controls in a bid to keep the shiny side up.
It was also beyond the pockets of TR and Big Healey buyers. That isn’t and wasn’t a bad thing because we all needed a dream, and for me, this car was ‘the’ dream.
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