Florida's sunny weather is creating the perfect back-drop to honor the
50th anniversary of the famed Mercedes-Benz 'Pagoda,' SL which takes
center stage during this week's Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, March
8-10, 2013.
The launch of the Mercedes-Benz 230 SL at the Geneva Motor Show in March
1963 caused quite a sensation. Mercedes-Benz had presented the motoring
world with this single successor to the extremely successful 300 SL
(W198) and 190 SL (W121).
The Daimler-Benz design team and particularly designer Paul Bracq
produced a two-seater Coupe/Roadster, known internally as the W113, with
a distinct contemporary flair which set new benchmarks for handling and
safety.
The sweeping curve of the W113's hardtop inspired enthusiasts
to nickname this model the 'Pagoda' SL. These design characteristics
served practical purposes as well as providing safety benefits. The
inward curvature of the removable hardtop roof improved outward
visibility, ingress/egress while increasing the roof's rigidity and
lowering the overall weight.
The 230 SL was the first sports car in the world to incorporate safety
features in the body structure, which contained a rigid passenger
compartment with crumple zones both front and rear.
The safety
engineering of the W 113 were reflective of the ideas developed by
Daimler-Benz Chief Safety Engineer Béla Barényi with respect to passive
safety integration within automotive body shells.
No comments:
Post a Comment