The R107 is the forgettable Mercedes SL | Axon’s Automotive Anorak

Launched half-a-century ago when I was a young lad, despite my love of all things automotive, to me this posh, heavy two-seater Stuttgart roadster has always merely existed, failing to ‘light my fire’; the so what SL just morphing into the background and being the motorised form of meh in my mind! I think I might have even driven one once, but the car was so unremarkable and unmemorable that I can’t really recall the moment or experience, which in itself speaks volumes…

I was recently reminded of the long-lived Mercedes SL on an uncommonly frustrating lengthy journey from Goodwood to the Chiltern Hills, when stuck in some serious Friday afternoon traffic on the A3, M25 and M40. Wherever I looked, there seemed to be shiny R107 SLs everywhere, mostly driven by more mature gentlemen with the top down, seemingly heading to some cult SL gathering somewhere in the South East of England, possibly to celebrate the Teutonic model’s 50^th anniversary.

The Paul Bracq-penned second generation 1963-71 Mercedes-Benz SL W113 series (often nicknamed the Pagoda due to its dished removable hardtop roof) was a tough act to follow after an eight-year production run of this eye-catchingly iconic sportster of the ‘swinging sixties.’ Mercedes pulled off something of a coup though with its W113 successor, the R107 series SL. First launched in 1971, and not replaced until 1989 by the subsequent more raking R129-Series 1989-2001 SL, this stylish, solidly built and engineered – but ultimately bland – ‘sporting’ Mercedes-Benz lead an exceptionally long and successful 18-year career, with more than 237,000 examples being built (plus an additional 63,000 SLC C107 long-wheelbase 2+2 coupe derivatives, based on a stretched R107 platform).

The new two-seater SL roadster, plus its extended wheelbase 2+2 SLC sidekick (1972-81), hit the ground running, immediately attracting a healthy order intact. During its 18-year run, the appearance of the SL changed very little, from its horizontal headlights and proud thrusting chromed grille, through to its fluted tail lamps (shaped to keep the rear lenses clean in all weathers, a Mercedes first that were later shared with the 1972-81 S-Class W116-series and featured on most subsequent models of the Stuttgart marque), it’s conservative styling causing little offence yet failing to set pulses racing.

Although visually little changed over its lengthy 18-year production career, this SL model’s engine programme altered considerably through this time. Initially launched in 350SL, 200PS (141kW) straight-six guise only, the R107 range was soon expanded to include an entry 280SL with 190PS (140kW), right up to a 560SL, 230PS (169kW) V8 for the North American markets only, where the majority of SLs were sold.

Beloved by upwardly-mobile members of golf clubs and the jet set worldwide, (plus Hollywood movies and with TV appearances in abundance in period, with Bobby Ewing of the global early-‘80s hit soap opera Dallas driving one, adorned with huge and ugly American federal bumpers and quad round headlamps for the North American markets), the R107 SL’s sober but safe styling hit the sweet spot from day one, even if it wasn’t quite as pretty and satisfying as its 1960s predecessor, not helped by its uber-short wheelbase nor unfeasibly long front and rear overhangs.

In comparison to a handful of other expensive sporting executive machines that also appeared in 1971 – such as the graceful and achingly-elegant Fiat 130 Coupe, the avant-garde and complex Citroën SM, the handsome and brutal Alfa Romeo Montreal and new V12-powered Jaguar E-type Series 3, the two-seater Mercedes was a safe but unadventurous and boring bet, the SL offering none of the verve, style or pure driving excitement of its contemporaries, despite outliving (and probably outlasting) them all.

Later in life new rivals aimed more directly at the SL’s boulevard cruiser raison d’être, such as the controversial Jaguar XJ-S and ‘pretender’ Cadillac Allante, failed to ever make a significant dent in the steady and unwavering demand for the ‘play it safe’ Mercedes SL.

The third-generation descendant of the original 1952 competition-only Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (SL allegedly being German of Super Leicht – super light in English), by the time the 1971 R107 came along, one thing the model could certainly not be accused of was being ‘super light’ as the two-seater topped the scales at more than a hefty 1,500kg-plus!

The first production Mercedes SL was arguably the most famous and sought of all SL models; the celebrated 300SL ‘Gullwing’ W198 coupe introduced in 1954. This cult coupe spawned the more attainable and less extreme W121 190SL roadster of 1957, this heavy two-seater cruiser with conventional doors giving way to the pretty W113 in 1963, ahead of the R107’s long-production career half a century ago.

The launch last week of the latest SL from Mercedes-AMG has now brought the SL’s ongoing lineage bang up to date, with AMG’s input promising to revive the model’s true sporting credentials to create a proper drivers’ car, rather than the yawn-a-mile R107, designed more to pose around in en route to the golf club, hair salon or aero club than for some serious, fully-involving driving. Here’s hoping, and I shall reserve judgement until I get the chance to try one, which hopefully will be more memorable than the R107 I (think) I drove some years ago…