Got the SL out and took a few pics. 20 year age difference. Didn’t want to crowd his car.









Oh, and this car REALLY likes 100mph.



Happy Sunday to all!

 

Love it, That with a hard top in it is one of my favorite cars from the era.

 

Thank you! She’s a beast! 9.5/10 condition. Took me years to find her. 58k miles.

Hardtop looks incredible but believe it or not the black soft top gets a lot of attention too which I wasn’t expecting. I feel more people try to race me with the top up, idk lol.

 

Timeless

 

The new SL may be a better car, but I think theR129 looks better
Also at the 12mpg in Mexico

 

I personally think the R129 was the best one, it was the last real Mercedes in my opinion before they changed for good. Last one with the old school MB gauges, etc. Love all the old school German touches, like the window switches on the other side with the shifter and vacuum locks, etc. And the doors. I can tell you that a $200,000 Maybach SUV I sat in at the MB dealer has inside door handles that don't even feel 20% as solid as these. To open the door out of this car takes some effort, but it's glorious.

Looks wise no SL will ever top R129 I don't think. People take pictures in traffic all the time, wave at me, make hearts with their hands (that was the best...a car of adults and kids) it's crazy the attention the car gets. That's not why I bought it either, I'm not a flashy person. I bought it because I've always been obsessed with R129 and those last ones with all the modern ground effects are just drop dead stunningly gorgeous. I still can't believe I have what I have in the garage. I will NEVER sell it but it will be worth an absolute fortune in a couple decades.

 

woah woah, best? w113 and w198 then r129

Then maybe r107 if it has euro lights and bumpers.
Then all of those shapeless monstrosities

 

Just my opinion. SL went realllllllllly downhill after R129. R129 isn’t classic like those but it has modern thoughts enough like a thumping Bose stereo, better HVAC and seats, much more room, and the M113 which is still plenty fast enough today in 2023, plennnnntty. But you’re not wrong either.

The 2013 SL redesign, it was literally an ugly car. Wtf? The current one looks great but blah, cars just suck now. I’d buy a Lexus LC convertible for the NA V8 and quality and reliability and that’s next on our list.

 

For the SL, my love starts with the Gullwing, then the Pagoda SL, then the R129. Ironically, have been in all 3 of those, and in the left seat in the Pagoda, for about a month.
Sedans, I'm biased on the W123 & W126, as I had both. Loved the W220 post-facelift as well.

 

That's awesome!

W123 not really a fan of though I certainly respect the beast. Love W126, and my favorite sedan is W140 but that car is a nightmare I'm well aware.

I also can't disagree with you on the W220 update, beautiful.

 

Yeah, got lucky & met a guy with a fully restored 57 Gullwing. Got a brief ride in it, pretty awesome how hard a 50 year old I6 could pull. His was supposedly the last 57 [I assume for the US market]
Got loaned a 70 280SL one summer, by my grandfather's Mercedes mechanic. GP had a 89 560SEC. The little Pagoda SL was a blast.
Had another friend in college that had a Silver Arrow R129. Only rode in it a couple times. He dropped it for a SLK230 when the SL was getting pricey to maintain.

True the W123 may not be the most elegant, but it was my first car [82 240D], so it gets some bias.
My grandmother & I both had a W126, me a 82 300SD & her a 89 420SEL. The 420 was the first of 7 S-Class for her. 89, 95, 01, 05, 07, 14, 15.
Loved the 05, definitely drove like the smallest of the 7. The 14 & 15 were rockets with the TTV8.

I had a 15 C300, enjoyed that one, but had some nagging issues. Dropped it before it stuck us with a $$ repair.
Came close twice on buying 2 separate W201 190E 2.3-16, and 4 '93 190E 2.6 Sportline LE [only 700 made]. Just couldn't close the deal on them at the time.

 

That is one smooth SL..... One of my favorites.

 

Thank ya! It is immensely fun to drive.

 

Meh, besides, MBZ's are for douchebags anyways.

$10K definitely isn't a "fortune" rofl

 

You guys know nothing about Mercedes or cars, C117 is motoring perfection!

ok joke time over, I’m not a fan of the new one, not sure why they had to base it on the AMG GT, because they have an AMG GT… I would have preferred they keep with a comfy hard top convertible if that’s what you want, or get (get ready for this) an AMG GT convertible if you want something sporty…

Also, why are hard top convertibles not a thing anymore? Lexus had the sc and the IS, bmw, 3 and 4 series, Benz sl and slk, Chrysler Sebring (the envy of all). There are a few others too, but now they are going back to motorized tents, why?

OP; nice SL btw

 

Weight & size would be my best guess.

 

Ok, sure, but we are talking 4000lbs luxury cruisers here. If we are talking s2000 or Miata, I completely understand (although even the Miata had a hard top convertible option).
I just had a quick look and the e92 hard top convertible is just slightly lighter than the current 4 series soft top convertible, so considering how cars porked up, sure a hard top would add to the bulk, but there is already plenty of it…
Size, I think is likely the big factor. If you can’t fit golf clubs in the trunk with the top down, it’s garbage.
Atleast Ferrari and Mclaren still have hard top convertible, so I just need to get one of those

 

Hell, I could do that with my 2004 350Z 'vert no problem, the E350 MBZ 'vert I recently rented barely had room for a carry on bag in the trunk with the top down. Pathetic. Not a good car anyway, I was surprised at how lousy it drove.

 

It's not only the weight of the car, it's also the weight of the top itself. Lifting big, heavy panels into place requires a more robust mechanism and parts to do it that also contribute to more weight, more potential failure points, a more complex mechanism, etc. It's a lot easier to get a fabric top to origami into a tight space than it is to get a hardtop to do it. Also, one continuous fabric piece is better for water ingress and sealing than a bunch of panels too. With newer materials, fabrics, and coatings, you can get similar performance as a hard top with a soft top and avoid all the downsides.

tl;dr, it's a lot harder and needlessly complicated to do it so they don't.

 

The real reason is that after the Chevy SSR hard top convertible pickup, manufacturers realized the peak has already been reached and they couldn’t compete.

ok, I found this video which answers my question.