Launched at the 1954 New York Auto Show, with bells and whistles that can be still heard when seeing one driving by, the gorgeous Mercedes-Benz 300 SL is arguably the world's first somewhat modern supercar.
This year, the iconic Gullwing will blow the sixtieth candle on its birthday cake, so the peeps in charge of the Goodwood YouTube channel decided to give a present to all 300 SL aficionados out there.
In short, an almost perfect-looking Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (W198) in silver with red leather interior was filmed while driving quite briskly on the legendary Goodwood circuit, with the real treat most likely coming from the glorious sound of its fuel injected straight-six.
Originally, the SL in its name stood for “Sport Leicht” (Sport Light) and it was rather fitting for a road-going sports car that was actually based on a racing car and which was also the fastest thing on four wheels that you could drive on the street in 1954.
Its inline six-cylinder engine had a capacity of three liters, delivering no less than 215 hp and 274 Nm (202 lb ft) of torque to the rear wheels through a four-speed manual gearbox.
The really interesting bit is not just the rather immense power for a sixty-year old car, but the fact that most of that power was achieved thanks to the world's first direct injection system on a road car, with the principle behind the system having been first used on Daimler-powered fighter planes.
With a top speed of around 260 km/h (162 mph), the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL was also the fastest production car in the world when it was first unveiled, while its gull-wing doors made it look just as fast even when standing still.
Alex handled his first real steering wheel at the age of five (on a field) and started practicing "Scandinavian Flicks" at 14 (on non-public gravel roads). Following his time at the University of Journalism, he landed his first real job at the local franchise of Top Gear magazine a few years before Mircea (Panait). Not long after, Alex entered the New Media realm with the autoevolution.com project. Full profile
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