Photo: Daimler AG
The fourth generation of the legendary Mercedes-Benz SL Roadster was launched almost a quarter of a century ago, with the SL R129 being unveiled in March 1989 at the Geneva Motor Show.
Replacing the aging R107, the all-new roadster brought a number of technological firsts for both Mercedes-Benz and the entire automotive industry, with the automatic rollover bar being its most talked about safety feature.
In order not to compromise the classic Mercedes-Benz coupe/cabrio pillar-less look while increasing the SL's safety during a rollover, the B-pillar was hidden from view and only deployed in the event of a crash or manually by the driver if he choose to.
Literally springing into action in just 0.3 seconds if one of the rear wheels left the ground and the body of the roadster tilted by over 26 degrees, the roll-over bar was the first reactive passive safety item of its kind in automobile history.
Combined with the addition of Electronic Stability Program after the facelift from 1995, the Mercedes-Benz SL R129 was arguably the safest convertible/roadster in the world at the time.
These weren't the only groundbreaking features on the SL R129 though, as its seats with integrated seat belts were also a thing of engineering beauty, with over 20 patents for certain detail solutions going into them.
The all-new electro-hydraulic soft-top was offered in standard and could be opened or closed within 30 seconds. Also standard was a manual hard-top which, despite using larger windows than the one on the preceding SL Roadster, weighed about 10 kilograms (22 pounds) less thanks to its aluminium construction.
Optionally, the Mercedes-Benz SL Roadster (R129) could be fitted with an early version of the active suspension that would reach its first true level of potential in the Mercedes-Benz CL (C215), in 1999.
The model's engine lineup changed a little bit over the years, but the top of the range version was always the SL 600, powered by what at the time was the world's lightest V12 engine, the six-liter, naturally-aspirated M120.
A number of AMG versions were also available, with the piece of absolute resistance being the bonkers SL 73 AMG from 1999, which offered 525 hp.
In total, 204,940 units of the R129 SL were built from 1989 until july 2001, when the sexy R230 series replaced it, with the SL 280 entry-level being the rarest model.
In order not to compromise the classic Mercedes-Benz coupe/cabrio pillar-less look while increasing the SL's safety during a rollover, the B-pillar was hidden from view and only deployed in the event of a crash or manually by the driver if he choose to.
Literally springing into action in just 0.3 seconds if one of the rear wheels left the ground and the body of the roadster tilted by over 26 degrees, the roll-over bar was the first reactive passive safety item of its kind in automobile history.
Combined with the addition of Electronic Stability Program after the facelift from 1995, the Mercedes-Benz SL R129 was arguably the safest convertible/roadster in the world at the time.
The all-new electro-hydraulic soft-top was offered in standard and could be opened or closed within 30 seconds. Also standard was a manual hard-top which, despite using larger windows than the one on the preceding SL Roadster, weighed about 10 kilograms (22 pounds) less thanks to its aluminium construction.
The model's engine lineup changed a little bit over the years, but the top of the range version was always the SL 600, powered by what at the time was the world's lightest V12 engine, the six-liter, naturally-aspirated M120.
A number of AMG versions were also available, with the piece of absolute resistance being the bonkers SL 73 AMG from 1999, which offered 525 hp.
In total, 204,940 units of the R129 SL were built from 1989 until july 2001, when the sexy R230 series replaced it, with the SL 280 entry-level being the rarest model.
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