-- The touring sports car at the side of the super sports car 300 SL
-- A sporty elegant two-seater touring and utility car
-- USA an important market for the vehicle
The story of the
Mercedes-Benz 190 SL starts with Maximilian Hoffman. He was the
Mercedes-Benz brand's official importer for the US market in New
York since 1952. When the company presented him two ideas in early
September 1953 � bring the 300 SL racing sports coup� (W 194 series)
as a production vehicle and simultaneously team it up with an
open-top touring sports car � he recognised the potential for sales
in the USA.
At the time, however,
Daimler-Benz was completely absorbed in other design and development
activities � for production vehicles and also for the 1954 racing
season, for which the new formula racing car of the W 196 R series
was earmarked. The pressures of work even made the Stuttgart people
put off their plans to participate in sports car racing in 1953. So
the new SL models increased the pressure, but they were important
for the image of Mercedes-Benz � the 1950s marked the beginning of a
new era after the Second World War. And these were interesting cars
too because Mercedes-Benz lacked sporty vehicles in its range.
Already in mid September 1953, the Board of Management made a
decision: the road version of the 300 SL (W 198 I) would come out
along with a smaller, open-top sports car, the 190 SL (W 121).
About five months after
the decision the touring sports car and the super sports car were to
celebrate their premieres � in America, at the International Motor
Sports Show in New York, taking place there from 6 to 14 February
1954. At the time it was the most important motor show on the other
side of the Atlantic. This meant that the engineers had very little
time for development. So they had to hurry: a few days after the
Board's decision to build both vehicles, the directors of
Daimler-Benz were examining the first sketches, and two weeks
further on they were able to assess the first 1:10 scale model,
which was followed eight weeks later by a full-scale model. And the
pace of development was raised still further. The floor assembly,
which came from the Mercedes-Benz 180, had to be adapted to the new
ideas and the right engine had to be found. Moreover, the tight time
schedule stipulated that the contours of the planers on which the
body would be created be finalised by 31 October 1953. The race
against time was won: Mercedes-Benz registered a tremendously
favourable response to both vehicles at the show.
Up until then, the
bodies of various models also were available in the two-seater
A-version as Cabriolet, Roadster or Coup�, the most recent example
being the Mercedes-Benz 220 Cabriolet A (W 187). According to chief
engineer Fritz Nallinger, this body variant would be replaced in
future by the SL vehicles � no longer with the existing formal lines
and face and explicitly in the SL design, including the star placed
centrally on the radiator grille � a paradigm change in the model
structure. The 190 SL was thus the symbol of a new product
philosophy and the forefather of the SL-Class.
First, series production
of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL began in August 1954 at the Sindelfingen
plant. The 190 SL, on the other hand, was thoroughly revised once
more because the car displayed at the International Motor Sports
Show in New York was neither technically tested nor stylistically
mature. In March 1955 Daimler-Benz then presented the final model of
the touring sports car at the Geneva Motor Show. The body was
designed by Walter H�cker and closely followed the design of the
Gullwing Coup� 300 SL, but unlike the 300 SL the 190 SL had a
retractable soft top. The production body showed some clear
differences from the show car: the stylised intake scoop on the
bonnet was dropped; the forward edge of the bonnet had been moved
farther back; there were "eyebrows" above the rear wheel cut-outs
too; and the bumpers, indicators and tail lights were modified. The
Sindelfingen factory built the pre-production series starting in
January 1955. Standard production commenced in May.
A body all in the style of the
1950s
The 190 SL is
technically related to the "Ponton" (pontoon) saloons � commonly
called that because of their characteristic body shape � of the W
120/121 series. Internally they were designated W 121, and the 190
that appeared in 1956 also got that designation. From the beginning
the 190 SL was designed as a two-seater cabriolet.
In the 1950s the meaning
of the term "roadster" changed. The classic roadster is a rather
spartanly appointed sporty two-seater having detachable side
windows, for instance, and a removable fabric top cum roof frame.
But the customers' comfort standards now were higher, and the
touring sports car Mercedes-Benz 190 SL made allowance for this.
Though not a roadster in the classic sense, it was interpreted as
that by the company.
In contrast to the 300
SL it was not conceived as a pure-bred sports car, but a sporty,
elegant two-seater touring and utility car. It was available in
three versions: a car with a fabric top (price in February 1955: DM
16,500) and a coup� with removable hardtop, optionally with or
without a fabric top (price in September 1955: DM 17,650/DM 17,100).
For comparison: the 300 SL cost DM 29,000 DM in 1954, and the 180
Saloon had a list price of DM 9450 in 1954/1955. As an optional
extra a third seat could be fitted in the rear, at right angles to
the direction of travel.
The motor press praised
the 190 SL among other things for its safe handling properties. They
were ensured by the low-pivot single-joint swing axle already
familiar from the 220a, and other features. The front wheel
suspension including the subframe was adopted from the 180, from
which the floor assembly � though shortened � also came.
A new development was
the 1.9-litre petrol engine with the number M 121 B II. The
four-cylinder unit has a single overhead camshaft and is regarded as
the progenitor of an entire family of engines. In the Mercedes-Benz
190 SL it developed 77 kW at 5700 rpm and accelerated the
fabric-topped variant from 0 to 100 km/h in 14.5 seconds. The top
speed was a respectable 170 km/h � it made it one of the fastest
cars on the road in the 1950s and 1960s. The petrol consumption was
put at a rather moderate 8.6 litres; the 65-litre tank provided
adequate range.
During its production
period the 190 SL underwent many improvements in details. Clearly
recognisable are the wide chrome strips on the upper edge of the
door (introduced in March 1956) and larger tail lights (June 1956,
as also used on models 220a, 219 and 220 S). In July 1957 the rear
licence plate lamp was moved to the bumper horns to enable fitting
the wide licence plates which were being introduced at the time. The
rear bumper horns were thus a basic equipment item, while at the
front they cost extra; the US versions always had them at the front
and the rear as standard. From October 1959 a new hardtop with a
larger rear window gave the coup�s much improved rear visibility. In
August 1960 the lock of the boot lid was changed; simultaneously a
recessed handle replaced the previous bow-type handle. In 1963 the
last Mercedes-Benz 190 SL rolled out of the production bay. In all,
25,881 were built. Most of them went to the USA � Max Hoffman's
calculation proved right.
A sports variant of the
Mercedes-Benz 190 SL
The first sales
brochures showed a sports variant of the 190 SL: light-alloy doors,
small Perspex racing windscreen, no soft top, no bumpers, heat
exchanger or insulating material, gave it a weight of 1000
kilograms, around ten percent less than the normal road version. The
number of units built is not documented, and few sports versions
found their way to the customers; they probably also came in for
further fine tuning with modifications to the four-cylinder engine,
lowering of the body, sports shock absorbers and modified springs.
The sports 190 SL scored its biggest success in 1956 in the Sports
Car Grand Prix in Portuguese Ma��o, entered by the then Daimler-Benz
importer in Hong Kong. The right-hand-drive sports car took first
place ahead of a Ferrari Mondial and various Jaguar and
Austin-Healey cars. In the same year the Mercedes-Benz general
importer in Morocco won his class (GT to two litres displacement) in
the Grand Prix of Casablanca. On account of the racing regulations
the idea of the sports 190 SL was not pursued any further: in many
competitions the vehicle, modified as described, would have been
classed as a production sports car and thus would not have had a
chance. On top of that a decision of the racing authority FIA (F�d�ration
Internationale de l'Automobile) prevented classification as a GT �
it said that a Gran Turismo must have a completely enclosable body �
a condition which the converted 190 SL could not meet.
The Mercedes-Benz 190 SL in the
press
Shortly after the
presentation of the Mercedes-Benz 190 SL at the International Motor
Sports Show in New York, auto motor und sport, Germany, No. 3, 1954,
wrote: "The Mercedes 190 SL is an elegant and fast touring sports
car that can be used as an ordinary, workaday vehicle, but
additionally offers the possibility of successfully competing in
smaller sporting events. ... For this new model Mercedes dispensed
with its hallowed radiator tradition, as it did for the 300 SL. The
very harmonious front end nevertheless shows that elegant and
distinguished lines are entirely possible without neglecting the
attributes of fashion and functionality."
In 1960 auto motor und
sport, Germany, No. 15, 1960, published a detailed test report on
the Mercedes-Benz 190 SL: "The 190 SL owes its good reputation not
just to its elegant appearance, but also to its robustness and
reliability and its accurate handling. The good build quality of the
body and the roadster soft top deserve special mention."
