GALLERY: Five generations of the Mercedes-Benz SL

GALLERY: Five generations of the Mercedes-Benz SL

The launch of the sixth-generation Mercedes-Benz SL this afternoon was the perfect chance for Mercedes-Benz Malaysia to highlight the rich history of the company’s celebrated Sport Leicht series, which started all the way back in the 1950s. That’s six generations spanning 60 years.

They managed to assemble a brilliant speciment of every SL generation, with some help from Sultan Ibrahim of Johor, who brought his two immaculate first-gen W198 SL300s – the famous Gullwing and a roadster. The silver duo were positioned on stage, flanking the freshly launched R231.

GALLERY: Five generations of the Mercedes-Benz SL

Below the stage, Mercedes parked the following SLs in a row, starting from the curvy 190 SL (a cheaper, less fast sibling of the Gullwing, related to Merc’s W121 Ponton saloon) to the recent “peanut eyed” pre-facelift R230 SL, which I think looks sleeker than the 2008 facelift and today’s SL.

Also in attendence were the second-gen W113, a bright red example of the 80s icon that was the R107 and the SL with the sharpest lines – the curve-free fourth-gen R129.

Simply beautiful. Gallery after the jump.

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • meesultam on Nov 09, 2012 at 6:43 pm

    i wish i was royalty…too bad im just a regular guy who,like most of malaysians, drive a proton for the past 10yrs..sob sob..long live the king

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 24 Thumb down 5
  • Solotame on Nov 09, 2012 at 8:14 pm

    How u all..,?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Jimmy on Nov 09, 2012 at 9:35 pm

    Wow the 1st generation(I presumed) with round front lamps is precious to keep. The pics showed that it is well kept.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 2
  • Kalun on Nov 10, 2012 at 8:25 am

    Just forgot to put in The current gen of Mercedes Benz SLS.

    It’s still based on the old SL

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • long live the king… saw the sultan’s modified army matt green hilux a while back at volkswagen JB service centre… heard it was sent back to repaint… lol. saw 2 american muscle cars also belonging to HRH too… amazing.
    hope HRH can do a private car show one day… that would be so super… lol

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 3
  • rempit on Nov 12, 2012 at 3:08 pm

    Daulat tuanku..Lepas ni beli Ferrari 250 gto plak ok…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • MrBmw on Nov 13, 2012 at 8:28 am

    The first gen Mercedes Benz W198 SL300 was one of the best designs for the SL. The design looks timeless, even today although it is already 60+ years.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • the johor sultan has about 400 super luxury cars
    theres only 365 days in a year..hahahaha

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • half-Blood Prince Perak on Nov 30, 2012 at 12:14 am

    Ha ha… Pretty Grant. O

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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