Mercedes Sports Car With Wing Doors

Opening upwards the doors evoke the image of a seagull s wings in french they are portes papillon butterfly.

Mercedes sports car with wing doors.

The top hinged upswinging doors became the 300 sl s most distinctive feature and earned it the popular name gullwing. 2011 mercedes benz f 125. Derived from the w194 racing car from 1952 the 300sl was about as exotic as road cars got when it was launched two years later. Aside from its obvious beauty and powerful fuel injected straight six engine it had one feature that no other car did.

Read more and see photos at car and driver. The car s aim was to highlight a sedan design providing a clear view of the back seat with the wide opening gull wing doors. See design performance and technology features as well as models pricing photos and more. The mercedes benz 300 sl chassis code w 198 is a two seat sports car that was produced by mercedes benz as a gullwinged coupe 1954 1957 and roadster 1957 1963.

The daddy of them all. View the entire line of mercedes benz luxury sedans coupes suvs and sports cars organized by class and style. A pure sports car the amg gt coupe is built to thrill. In december 1999 it was voted sports car of the century by a jury of trade journalists.

It was based on the company s 1952 racer the w194 with mechanical direct fuel injection which boosted power almost 50 on its 3 litre overhead camshaft straight 6 engine. While mercedes benz isn t the only car company to use gull wing doors they are the brand that started really pushing it as a luxury feature and they still do today. Capable of reaching a top speed of up to 263 km h. A gull wing door also known as a falcon wing door or an up door is an automotive industry term describing car doors that are hinged at the roof rather than the side as pioneered by the 1952 mercedes benz 300sl race car w194 and its road legal version w198 introduced in 1954.

Mercedes benz combines luxury with performance across the full line of models including luxury sedans suvs coupes roadsters convertibles more. The return of the look of the 300 sl with the anniversary editions seems to have inspired many other manufacturers like tesla to make gull wing car models. Discover our award winning luxury vehicles. Even today the 300 sl is considered the ultimate dream car.

This was more than mere styling trickery too.