These shots of a 190SL caught my eye, for obvious reasons. It’s a fetching car, of course, but these photos of it really bring its fine lines to life. Some of the best shots of this car I’ve seen, and a curbside find too. By the way, this is a pre-1959 version, due to the small rear window in the removable top.
I’m not going add much here, since Professor Andreina has given the full lecture on the subject already; here it is, in case you missed it. But since these were a part of my early years, I’ll probably have to add a few thoughts.
Obviously, the 190SL lived in the very large shadow of the 300SL, and as such, suffered from something of an inferiority complex. Which was only accentuated by the semi-scorn it received from the hard-core sports car set. It was too soft, slow and of course expensive for these guys used to rattling their fillings loose and blowing their ears out in their TR3s and such. Yes, 190SL was mighty pricey for a 105hp four cylinder. $5,020 for the ’58 version roadster; several hundred more for the hardtop. An Austin-Healey 3000 cost $3371 and sported 124hp. And even the roarty $2676 TR3 had 100hp. So no, in this company, the 190SL was something quite different.
It wasn’t made for the weekend road racer, or even wanna’ be. It was a sophisticated, smooth-riding, refined and very comfortable sports-tourer that really set the standard for all the subsequent SLs to come. The 300SL was an extremely expensive (more than twice the price of the 190SL) and hung around in very rarefied circles. But the 190SL made the idea of a Mercedes “sports car” relatively accessible. And the rest was history.
A delight! I have always found these alluring, although had I had $5k to spend on a new car in 1958 it would not have been on something with four cylinders, no matter how beautiful it might have been.
That lead shot is gorgeous – and makes me wonder if this is the only car that those fat bulges in the fenders ever looked good on? Because Lincoln certainly couldn’t pull it off with the chromed ones they used. I have been trying to imagine this car without them – I think it would still have been attractive, just not as memorable.
I’ve seen those fat bulges referred to in print as splash guards. I agree, Mercedes nailed it with them.
It is a pretty car, that’s for sure. That $5000 price tag for the convertible made it a major bargain for anyone with the foresight (or a time machine) to hold onto it.
I insure a ’57 convertible in concours condition for a client. It’s currently insured for $121,300.
hard to believe the 190sl was a ‘cheap’ mercedes in it’s time.
Just what I’d expect to see on a San Francisco street in a ’50s movie.
(Actually, I think there’s one parked and visible in the movie ‘Bullitt”)
At the time, the ‘cheap’ Mercedes was the bare-bones, detrimmed & detuned 180 sedan, which sold for about $3000!
Happy Motoring, Mark
What a beautiful car indeed and I do not think I have heard of it before.
When I was a kid most taxis in Montevideo were 10-year-old, 60-62 Mercedes 190d, in black with yellow roof livery. It’s amazing how alike those clattering workhorses seem to these sport luxury car with the smaller backlight (and of course, the angle from which the picture is taken).
BTW, many of those 190d were in use until about 1982, when they didn’t go to the crusher but were instead somewhat repaired (and even refurbished in some cases) and sold to people eager to own a 1.6 million km Mercedes.
I used to walk past one daily on my way to school a South African woman who worked for a local garage had one in pale blue I always liked the style of it, the car spent regular sessions at the panelbeaters next door to where she worked having rust removed and often sported patches of primer before having touch ups though I recall a full respray at one point, it was her daily drive and one of a herd of sought after classics that were parked around that garage/workshop.
That’s definitely Sausalito, not SF. Just off Bridgeway Street. I wonder if it was there for the monthly “Biscotti and Cars” event.
Nice car, nice pics.