Top Gear - Mercedes-Benz 300 SL review by James May
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- Опубликовано: 22 мар 2021
- Eternal youth is a miracle bestowed on only a small number of cars, and the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL coupe is one of this elite group. The Stuttgart-based brand unveiled its new sports car in February 1954 at the International Motor Sports Show in New York, and in so doing lit the fuse for an icon of the automotive world. With its flat, graceful body, the 300 SL had lost nothing of its freshness even as the millennium drew to a close and was voted "Sports car of the Century" in 1999. "Gullwing" doors provided that essential touch of inspiration, opening up towards the sky to reveal a tightly sculptured interior. The history of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing is inextricably linked with the life of an influential admirer. American importer Maximilian E. Hoffman it was who urged Mercedes-Benz to build a road car in the image of its racing coupe, the start of production in 1954 providing a sweet fruit for his endeavors. The assembly lines may have waved goodbye to the last of the only 1,400 units of the 300 SL coupe ever made in 1957, but the spirit of this extraordinary car most certainly lives on.
From the race-track to the road
The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL was conceived initially as a purpose-built racing sports car (W 194). In 1952, the coupe notched up an impressive record of success in the year's major races. At the Grand Prix in Bern the 300 SL sealed a clean sweep of the podium places, an awesome performance backed up by a one-two finish ahead of a stunned field in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Nürburgring duly yielded another one-two-three, and the new Mercedes racing sports car also claimed victory in the Carrera Panamericana in Mexico. It all added up to a majestic return to motor sport for Mercedes-Benz, picking up where the brand had left off during a highly successful period before the Second World War.
The technical make-up of the 300 SL owes much to the Mercedes-Benz 300 (W 186 II) sedan, the vehicle of choice for many statesmen and industrialists and also known as the "Adenauer Mercedes". The six-cylinder engine featured a number of modifications, one of which saw the carburetor replaced by a direction injection system - a technical advance which was years ahead of its time. This new technology boosted output to 158 kW (215 hp) and the car's maximum speed up as far as 260 km/h, depending on the rear axle ratio. Customers could order their SL with a choice of five different ratios. The standard 1:3.64 variant was set up primarily to deliver rapid acceleration and capable of 235 km/h. The 1:3.89 and 1:4.11 ratios were good for even faster acceleration, whilst the 1:3.42 option offered a higher top speed. This figure rose still further - to 260 km/h - when the ratio was set at 1:3.25. However, this "resulted in greatly reduced acceleration, making the car less enjoyable to drive in downtown city traffic," as the sales information pointed out. The 300 SL hit 100 km/h in just 10 seconds, with car testers at the time measuring fuel consumption at an average of 15 liters per 100 km. A 100-liter fuel tank was positioned at the rear of the car and could be enlarged to 130 liters at an extra charge.
The engine had to be tilted 45 degrees to the left in order to squeeze under the hood of what was an extremely flat car, thus reducing the amount of space in the passenger-side footwell. The SL's center of gravity was almost exactly in the middle of the car, laying the perfect foundations for fast and precise cornering. The chassis was essentially the same as the 300a sedan's, but with sportier tuning, and the drum brakes were adapted in response to the increased performance of the muscle-bound sports car. Only later, in the 1961 roadster variant, were these replaced by disc brakes all round. 
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Came for the 300SL, stayed for the legendary music
honestly though, this little review had some of the best music
Voodoo chile the most badass song I ever heard
@@drunkenpigeon2980 wonder how much the bbc had to pay for them all
Came here for the 300 SL left for the music, then realized the guitar solo was from Knopfler!!!
Came for May, stayed for the legendary 300SL
legendary playlist:
0:00 - 0:19 / Voodoo Child - Jimi Hendrix
0:30 - 0:57 / Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits
1:14 - 1:40 / China Girl - David Bowie
1:42 - 1:52 / Misirlou - Dick Dale
2:06 - 2:28 / Layla - Derek & The Dominos
2:34 - 2:50 / Bang a Gong (get it on) - T. Rex
3:35 - 3:59 / Wind of Change - Scorpions (The german song btw)
3:59 - 4:44 / Time - Pink Floyd
truly beautiful tracks for a beautiful car.
Good work Sir , U have my thanks
The real legend is always in the comments.
I'm not sure the Scorpions were playing a strat at the time.....
There is a good podcast about winds of change being a CIA opp
You are excellent for posting this. Once I heard the whistle (over a decade ago when this video was made) I knew that was the german song.
The music licensing on this episode must've cost a fortune lol
No. Top Gear have mentioned this before, they just used the BBC music library.. Job done.
@@vaquerov70 no. They pay for music licences through the PRS. The same way everybody else does ..
@@stevehhall3385 No, the BBC payed. That's what their library is. It wasn't out of Top Gear's budget at all
@@stevehhall3385 Right exactly. Top Gear could always have such great music because it was all done through the BBC. No television show could ever afford that kind of licensing on a constant basis. And yes it's been much discussed.
Repent to Jesus Christ!
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12 NIV
J
For those wondering about the value quoted by May, this is taken from Top Gear series 5, episode 5 in 2004. Values have increased significantly since then.
In case people weren't aware, all episodes of Top Gear (2002 onward) are currently available on BBC iPlayer, although some episodes have been edited to remove controversial content.
No. Shit.
I remember reading Jay Leno paid $1.65M for his own Gullwing, but I don't know when he bought it. Regardless of the price tag, it would be at the top of my list if I won the lottery.
And will not drop even when within a decade these cars can only be used to put in Your indoor living room as collector item !
Also they used the sl-r as an example of modern benz, cause sls came out in 2010
Just 200k pounds? That’s a steal!!
$200,000 x 10 is mor like it
By the looks of James May this was filmed probably 10 years ago or more.
It was 200k pounds when this video was made (at least 10 years ago), now the lowest price is 1 million pounds.
@@jeansandu1612 Season 5 - September 2004!
lol 20 years ago. Usually over a million now.
The 300SL Gullwing might not be, in your consideration, the sexiest car ever made, but it will always be in the running for that title. For everyone.
Not even being a benz fan I would have to agree
It's up there with the shitreon ds
Jup i dislike most cars made by Mercedes. but i have to admit that it is magnificent, and that if i would somehow get one, i couldn't sell it, no matter how many great cars, i could buy for it.
That’s a lot of ”,”.
100%. Alongside the first gen E-type Roadster, the Toyota 2000GT and maybe the C2 Vette Split Window
Aside the 300SL the background music was diamond 💎
in mid 2021a 300SL was worth £1.4m, now I know it doesn't sound like much, but back then, that could have bought you a very very nice house. :)
Nicely done!
For a guy who doesn't actually like classic cars, May surely appreciates classic cars
I think it's the historic significance and the great stories behind cars like these that attracts him. Would be the same if he talked about a 1920's Tour de France winning bicycle.
Or about Henry Ford or Enzo Ferrari. Terrible people in some ways, great in other. And thus all the more interesting.
It was weird to hear him say that when he owned a pristine Ferrari 308
BUT , has he ever got a drive in the 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe , which makes the 300SL pedestrian ? I have actually sat in the UC , and chatted with the great man himself , but I wasn’t allowed a drive in it .
Sadly , my 300SL was ‘only’ a R129 , even if it was the 24 valve version . These days I run an S Klasse and a W124 , but I plan to have another 1950’s Merc before I die
@@derekheeps1244 Sat in one. Cool I guess.
He liked classic cars back then. He now is going thru a phase where he needs to pretend he's modern lmao.
“Layla” and “Bang A Gong” were both recorded with Gibson Les Paul Standards
Clapton used Strato on Dominos from where Layla is from. But Marc Bolan surely played Les Paul.
@@latemusic6862 Greg Allman was playing a Gibson Les Paul standard on Layla
@@7rays no that was duane allman
@@7rays didn't he just play the slide solo? i'm not very sure tho if i'm wrong i'm sorry
@@billjones8542 I meant Greg…lol…Skydog
I've never seen the Gullwing in the flesh. But the Roadster remains one of the Most Elegant Motor Vehicles of All Time.
The most beautiful car ever made.
After e-type.
Those surprised with the value in 2004... around that time you could buy a Ferrari 288 GTO for £180k > now worth £2m+ and a Lamborghini Miura for £90k (yes, seriously) now £2.5m+
Yeah I'm gonna kill myself now
a Miura for 90k? Are you sure? I thought that was Countach money on those days and the Miura already skyrocketed.
@@devandrasimanjuntak1646 yup. Those were the times.
Heh....you could pick up a dino for under $50k then too...
@@robcampbell3235 idk if it makes any sense, but even in Forza Motorsport 4 (2011), the game with Clarkson commentaries, Ferrari Dino would cost 75000$
And prices in this game were pretty accurate and close to real ones at the release time
Prices shot up so hard in those 10 years
I can see where Doug DeMuro got 90% of his talking points for his recent 300SL review
Amazing music too, recently bought a Fender Strat and it’s by far the favourite sounding guitar.
@Daniel Large The “driving” portion of his videos are just awful as well.
@@aazelion5189 Yeah it’s a sad excuse for them, like “let’s look at just my upper body and face while I bulge my eyes and say ‘WOW…’ a few times when I hit the gas.” He doesn’t do fly-bys anymore, or even complete POV walk-arounds of the vehicles. Sometimes you don’t even know what the back of it looks like.
@@roddydykes7053 Yeah, plus the self promoting. I honestly think going a single video without promoting his shitty auction site might physically hurt him.
@@aazelion5189 He's certainly not the greatest channel on here, but what's with the vitriol? Is your favorite car the metris or something?
*cries in les paul*
this car is clearly a masterpiece ,,, even today it looks like from another world ,, German perfection
Super expensive sport car with drum brakes and poor handling in 1954... "German perfection" sounds about right...
@@Bialy_1 oh shut up kid
A Masterpiece of automotive design to this day the gullwing represents benz heritage at it's best.
Thank you, Clarksonian!!! I have tried to find this video for years but never at this resolution. This is one of my all time favorite clips from Top Gear. May was brilliant in pairing the 300SL with music from the newly released Stratocaster Guitar. Absolutely outstanding! Thanks again to everyone that made it possible for me to see and hear this fantastic clip again and again.
Ah, the glories of the rear swing axle and crossply tyres, also to be found on a Triumph Spitfire.
One of the best cars ever made and one of the coolest vehicles ever
Easily
I think the car carrier they were transported on to and from the races was a cooler vehicle than the car
Funy to say that after he very clearly mentioned that this is a super expensive sport car that have crapy handling, crapy brakes, crapy ergonomics and spare tire is your only baggage... not to mention all the important things that you would expect in any sport car made in XXI century.
My favourite car coupled with my favourite song, my dream is to have my own sl and listen to sultans of swing playing while driving down the n222.
Doug Demuro: This is a car you can daily drive. James May: This is a widowmaker. Oh who to believe?
well from what I remember and I might be wrong so do correct me if I am, the later models actually had disc brakes and other quality of life improvements, as far as daily drivabliity the thing about pre chrysler merger mercedes is, their cars were usually about 20 years ahead of anything else so you could daily drive this in the same way you could a mid 70s car, with some compromises
It's possible that Doug didn't drive it fast enough to experience the oversteer, but I think the 300 SL did have some handling issues.
It's due to that live axle for the lively rear on the limit.
Demureo what a dairylea
the top gear gang are rabidly anti-german. Hammond less so
I saw this episode and the car back in 2007 (from a re run of old Top Gear episodes) and it has become one of my motivation in saving up tons of money since 7th grade so that I can own this car for my daily use.
Me too. I can now afford a wing.
EXCELLENT VIDEO..the narrator the car and the music are all in place.
“A really rubbish boot!” Lol.
Great music James!
Most beautiful car ever made in my opinion.
THE WINDS OF CHANGE BY SCORPIONS ESCORPIONES like we call them in Mexico, GREETINGS
3
One just sold at Mecum Kissimmee (2022) for $2.4M.
Greatest car ever...reviewed by the greatest intellectual car enthusiast ever.
Damn I miss the mid 2000s so much! When 300 SLs, Miuras and Daytonas were 200 grand. Nowadays, each of them are 1 million+.
Somehow I knew he'd play "Wind of Change" - Scorpions are an awesome band btw
And I learnt today they are German....
@@clintonbirch9405 Yeh, although they been around over 50years, they became famous world wide for "Wind of Change" released just after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Especially being a German band the song meant so much to German people & also all those countries (including mine) finally free from Soviet & comunist rule. Its a bit cheesy but I love it - & whenever anyone mentions German bands they always think of Scorpions - Take care my friend
@@saraw6446 I love their music. Somehow I just never knew they were German. I am not sure I really listen to any other German rock besides Rammstein. I may have other German bands in my general listening selection which tends to be dominated by American and UK groups (boring I know).
@@clintonbirch9405 Maybe not so famous, but some of my favourite metal bands are from Germany, like "Blind Guardian" "Kreator" "Helloween" "Sodom" "Accept" and quite a few Black & Death metal bands
@@clintonbirch9405 If you like Rammstein try some Stahlmann and Eisbrecher.
The German music: Wind of Change - Scorpions
The car and music combination is perfect in this review
Incredible music, stunning car
This warms my heart
My FAV classic Mercedes is this and the 300SL convertible after it.
My first boss here in Montana back in the 80’s had one he brought new. He sold it back then for half a million dollars. It was very low mikes, and flawless original paint. They paid him $250,000 cash and six newer collectible Mercedes.
Great car backed with great music.
All the songs in this video reminds me of my childhood driving somewhere with my parents and listening to the radio
It’s always amazing to see a car manufacturer achieve perfection. There aren’t many examples but when you see one you know it. Apparently driving it is less perfect but I don’t have to worry about that sadly.
Wow.. 200k? That would've been a huge investment, they are now well over a million..
@yabghus what the fuck do you want from me? I was just pointing out the way it got up in value, i didn't say anything about it as a car or its competitors. But now i will. Its a perfect car, and definitely one of the most beautiful ever created, everybody has its opinions so you dont have to go to me and tell me about your dream ferraris.
And my favourite colour combination too. Black body with red interior. Drool!
This one was in the same episode with Citroën DS. Divine!
Yes 4000 pounds did buy you a nice house, my gran bought her beach side home for 5500 pounds in 1955 it's now worth alot more.
Awesome video 🔥
One of the best looking cars ever. It still beggars belief that it is from 1955!
Winds of Change by the Scorpions is the German song. And James, I would still have that car no matter what. It just looks beautiful and just so nice.
Good luck finding a good one for 200k now 😅 such an amazing piece of work 👍👍
People used to make beautiful car, fast car, innovative in design and it can only be done by truly passionate person
was laughing at 2'05 when he announced: "This is Genesis!"
The best Mercedes ever built. I'm lucky I got to film one.
one of the most beautiful cars ever madem, in my opinion
In 1971 a friend’s dad had the same car ( black with red leather) for sale for $5000. It had 12,000 miles and was parked next to a J2 Cadillac powered Allard. As a kid in High School it was out of my reach. I bought his Berkely 328 instead for $400. Two of us picked that tiny convertible up and loaded in into the bed of a Ford Pickup truck.
Better watch the Jay Leno video about the 300 SL Gullwing (and the world famous transporter afterwards).
Brilliant!!!
Layla - Derek & The Dominos was the song they played for the memories bit of the last grand tour episode
Wind of change, Scorpions, from Hannover, Germany
Wow this first time seeing a young james may, or maybe he standing next to a legendary car.
If the 1955 Le Mans accident of Pierre Levegh didn't happen , Mercedes would probably have won every major race since then !
@yabghus and where are the glorious British car companies now huh ???
Owned by Germans 😎 , Indians 😂 , Americans and Arabs !!!
So British cars can win shiiiiiiiii… without foreign money and expertise 😎
Who made cars first ?!!!
Never forget that !!!
@@germaniac44x28 canadians as well, don't let Bond villain Lawrence Stroll out of it
Good choice that May had this car in his hands could imagine what Clarkson had done to him ( converting to hovercraft, soaceshuttle, carrier, submarine...)
)
Scorpions - Wind of Change was the German song in this film
I'd argue the Jaguar XK120 was the first supercar.
@yabghus XJ220?
@yabghus I agree that for the last 20 years or so, Jaguar hasn't released anything worth looking at. But classic Jags? come on man, they're fantastic.
Such a real Beauty 300 SL Gullwing
In These Days the value for a 300SL is minimum 1 Million Euro.
Increasing year by year
PEAK TOP GEAR.
May at his best
In 1963 @18 I was working in Seattle close to a BMC dealership, they had a 300 SL for sale for $5,000. I wanted to trade my VW in, my dad so no way I couldn’t afford it and would end up with no car 😩. So I passed 😩.
Remember the 300sl gullwing very,
well. I was working next door to Mercedes-Benz 🇬🇧 GB at the time, when the cars were new. The 300sl was good in a straight line, but handling always left a lot to be desired. When new a 300sl cost more than the price of the average house in UK.
Nice to hear. Why’s that the case for the handling? Just curious. Since it’s next to impossible to actually drive one.
@@alexhernandez9918 The rear swing axles were the problem. If the driver eased up on the throttle in a too-fast bend, a wheel could tuck under and cause the car to roll. That was addressed in the slightly later roadster by lowering the swing pivot point. The roadster also got all-round disc brakes, although the 'alfin' (finned aluminium) drums did a good job (for drums).
@@21stcenturyozman20 thanks for the info!
@@alexhernandez9918 You're welcome. :-)
I saw only one of these 1955 white Mercedes 300 in my lifetime. I would give anything to ride in one.
@3:36 is the German track, specifically, Scorpions - Wind of Change
This is the one car I would love to see revisited. Like with Eagle and the e-type. Yah the Eagles are still expensive but imagine the 300sl body over a great handling and powerful chassis. The SLK dosnt count. Besides the doors are wrong.
Closest your gonna get is the SLS.
Problem is that such a car wouldn't be road legal. You'd have to significantly change the design to accommodate modern safety standards.
@@_SpamMe it wouldn’t have to change too much. The basic profile and shape would still be intact. Look up the eagle e-type. They are road legalish. Depending on where you live.
ruclips.net/video/d513ebMC6Is/видео.html
The Beauty
lol, look how YOUNG, May is....i'm getting old
NOV. 2021, a 300SL Gullwing now exceeds $1,000,000 US and exceptional examples have reached over $2,000,000
1 sold at auction in 2012, $4,600,000
The only German song in this is at 3:37
Scorpions - Wind of Change
and the scorps did not use strats
The only german song might have been from David Bowie. He recorde a lot of his music at the Hansa Studio Berlin ;)
There is a Scorpions song in there.
Scorpions, Winds of Change.
@@billmedic1995 yes
2
Actually James that was Derek and the Dominos.
You know Carbone was frozen so solid they had to defrost him for 2 days before they could do the autopsy.
I think I heard "Wind of Change" by the German band The Scorpions" in there somewhere.
Maybe the best looking car ever.
Scorpions, Wind of Change (the German music component)
1st Supercar stuff always has me thinking about pre-war Bugatti or even Hispano Suiza. Then there was also the 300 SLR, with literally half a Messerschmitt Bf109 engine in it.
My parents and I used to eyeball a convertible one that sat behind a music store in my home town... abandoned by it's deceased owner to his brother's back yard. We tried our best to get him to sell it to us and he wouldn't. I watched it decay for many years. I often wonder what happened to it. Such a shame.
The popularity of the convertible is the main reason why only 1400 Gullwings were made. Mercedes had a low ceiling in terms of its feasible manufacturing output. Convertible SLs were selling better than Gullwings, plus easier to make and to maintain, so they prioritized the former.
The soundtracks were so much better 20 years ago. Or whenever this was.
This car was registered in York. It was always said that my old Boss, a one Arthur Slater the then owner of “North Riding Garages” ,Pickering had before my time owned one of these cars. This was possible as “ North Riding”were Mercedes dealers and he had driven a works car in The Monte Carlo Rally on at least one occasion. I wondered if this could have been this car? “North Riding” however did tend to use Northallerton and Middlesbrough tax offices.
German song: 3:36 wind of change. There's an amazing podcast by the same name on Spotify which explains how the CIA may have written the song.
You did not mention the bespoke luggage Mercedes made specifically for this car. Fitted on the rear parcel shelf.
This car would rank on my got to have cars if I could only have 3. McLaren F1 and Ferrari 250 GTO being the other 2.
The last one I could find that sold went for $4.6 million!!
Top condition Gullwings over £1m today. Roadster 300SLs going the same way. Actually, the Roadsters are the most beautiful of the two.
We may never see Clarkson, Hammond or May deliver such a review ever again. So take a short journey into the past and enjoy. We never realize we're in "the good old days" until they're already gone.
Great clip! From a time when TG/GT wasn't just three old guys being silly.
Sultans of swing, Layla, Winds of change, Time
Wind of change by the scorpions
150 MPH on drum brakes, geeez.
The music though.
Classic is a nice way to say old
May may know about cars but not a lot about music...
Marc Boland from T-rex did not use at Stratocaster but played a Les Paul and the one not english or american is Scorpions.
Sultans of swingggggg
China Girl was recorded in Berlin. I would include that as well as Wind Of Change.
,,300SL,,legenda Mercedes Benz
Das mit Abstand schönste Auto der Welt!
Song sultan of swing
4
Voodoo Child to Sultans of Swing in less than 35 second, how the heck did they manage to pull that off
Ferrari was in no shorts at the time.... He released the 250 series that showed the world and Mercedes what fast is all about
Wind of change is a "german" song by the scorpions.