New Mercedes-Benz SL in the proportions of the 50s
A long hood and a small drop-shaped cab give the car a special charm
Daimler chief designer Gordon Wagener says over the past few decades, the new Mercedes-Benz SL has moved away from the GT-style roadster spirit and is back to its sporting roots. Wagener himself is not a fan of retro design, so SL will not completely revive the 300 SL Gullwing form, but SL will still return to the original model of the 50s more than any subsequent generation.
A very long hood and a small drop-shaped cab give the car a special charm. Headlights with pointed angles will look like the latest models of the brand. The prototype also showed narrow turn signals in the style of the current AMG GT with five and two doors.
The 300 Coupe 1954 SL, the legendary Seagull wing, is considered by Gordon Wagener the most beautiful SL. In the same year, Gullwing received an open version, the evolution of which has reached the modern SL.
The letters SL stand for Sport und leicht (sporty and lightweight), and in the early 50s, the Seagull Wing parameters were really solid: a three-liter inline six-cylinder engine with 215 hp fuel injection. and coupe. It weighs 1,5 tons. All this is complemented by a stunning design. “I think we took some of this DNA, starting with the proportions,” Wagener said.
The new SL (R232) will use the next-generation adapted MSA platform, the AMG GT coupe. This is a forecast of internal sources.
From the point of view of technology, the traditions of the light model will continue in the form of a folding soft top, a saloon with a 2 + 2 landing configuration and a number of versions starting from SL 43 (in-line six-cylinder 3.0 with a moderate hybrid equalizer). Boost 367 HP and 500 Nm) and up to the SL 73 hybrid based on a V8 4.0 engine with 800 hp The car will premiere in 2021.
