50 years of Mercedes-Benz SLC: for men's and women's hands

The 107 series is the cross-country skier in the post-war history of Mercedes-Benz.

The roadster with the removable coupé roof was part of the range for a full 18 years, and its career did not end until August 4, 1989, when the successor (R 129) had been in production since May 1988.

Only the G-model can easily keep up in terms of endurance, but that's a different car world.

For the first ten years, i.e. until 1981, the SL was accompanied by a four-seater variant with a fixed roof called the SLC.

The design of the large coupé is unique, but the abbreviation was revived in 2016 when the small SLK roadster was renamed SLC.

Boris Schmidt

Editor in the “Technology and Engine” section.

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But back to the classic SLC and the 107 series. Together, more than 300,000 units were sold by 1989, of which 62,888 were SLC.

“Never before has an expensive luxury automobile been so successful,” sums up automobile historian Werner Oswald in his standard work “German Cars since 1945”.

The 350 SL started in 1971 with a base price of 30,000 marks, the coupe was almost 4000 marks more expensive.

At the end of its career, the 500 SL came to 100,900 marks, the 500 SLC was last on the books in 1981 for 68,400 marks.

In the times when both were offered in parallel, the SLC achieved a remarkable rate of almost 40 percent.

The coupé was not just a variant of the SL with a fixed roof, it was already available as a hardtop for winter time. At that time, Mercedes-Benz invested a considerable amount of time and effort into the SLC. The front end was the same, but a lot changed after the bulkhead. The wheelbase and thus the entire car have been stretched by 36 centimeters. The aim was to create comfortable space for two to three people on the back seat. However, the trunk remained rather small. With a length of 4.75 meters, the SLC even exceeds the dimensions of the legendary Stroke Eight sedan (1967 to 1976), which was seven centimeters shorter. As with the SL, the V8 engine with 200 hp initially provided propulsion via the rear wheels, and was later joined by the 450 with 225 hp. Back then it was taken for grantedthat the abbreviations match the size of the displacement, i.e. 3.5 and 4.5 liters.

This unusual double model was chosen in Stuttgart because they wanted to offer a large coupé again as a counterpart to the S-Class, the start of which was scheduled for 1972.

But a coupé from the 116 series would not have been ready before 1975.

They didn't want to keep their well-heeled customers waiting that long, and so it was decided to orient a new coupé on the SL.

The roadster made its debut as the successor to the Pagoda in April 1971, the SLC was presented at the Paris Motor Show in autumn of that year, and series production began in April 1972. As with the SL, almost four fifths of the cars were exported over the entire production period, mainly to America.

The end of 1981 is based on the new, large coupé from the next generation of the S-Class.

The SLC is given a special touch by the fixed slats at the end of the rear side windows, which are somewhat reminiscent of a curtain pushed aside. They quickly develop into his trademark, they look good and wanted, but they are an emergency solution. Because of the narrow distance between the elongated doors and the rear wheel arches, a large rear side window would not have been completely retractable. Therefore they are divided into two parts, the slats are supposed to conceal that.

The large coupé with the powerful V8 engine immediately impressed car enthusiasts beyond measure, and the press was not reluctant. The FAZ also fables: “The SL Coupé is a car for passionate and spoiled gentlemen drivers, because it is absolutely unthinkable that this magnificent, sporty car is driven with a chauffeur. On the bumpy mountain roads of the Vosges, the coupé demonstrated clearly enough what is meant by driving culture. The steering and control of this 350 SLC does not require a rough man's fist, this coupé will also willingly follow a delicate female hand, of course always with the knowledge that no less than 200 little horses jump under the hood of this coupé. “Yes, those were different times and different Writing styles back then. In the same text, the author reported thatthat Mercedes is working on an ABS. However, almost nine years will pass before it gets to the SL / SLC.