Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]

Announcements (Updated: July 11, 2018)

Welcome to Swifty's Garage!


Thanks to all of you for making this board what it is today!


Attention new members: We would like to welcome you personally, so please introduce yourself. Click here: INTRODUCTIONS


For all the latest news and announcements, please click here: PA System



Thank you - The Swifty's Garage Team




This board is best viewed at 1024 x 768 Resolution

Car of the Week:


Matchbox 1968 Ford F-100


Click Here: Matchbox '68 Ford F-100
Welcome to Swifty's Garage. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.

Thank You,
The Swifty's Garage Team


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features.

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Car Of The Day: September 28, 2009; Siku '55 Mercedes-Benz 300SL
Topic Started: Sep 28 2009, 12:22 AM (531 Views)
Swifty
Member Avatar
The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
Posted Image

Today's car of the day is Siku's 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL.

Posted Image

Wikipedia
 
The Mercedes-Benz 300SL was introduced in 1954 as a two-seat, closed sports car with distinctive gull-wing doors. Later it was offered as an open roadster. It was the fastest production car of its day.

Built by Daimler-Benz AG and internally numbered W198, the fuel-injected road version was based (somewhat loosely) on the company's highly successful competition-only sports car of 1952, the somewhat less powerful carbureted Mercedes-Benz 300SL (W194).

The road model was suggested by Max Hoffman. Being intended for customers in the booming post-war American market it was introduced at the 1954 New York Auto Show, unlike previous models introduced at either the Frankfurt or Geneva shows. In Mercedes-Benz fashion, the "300" referred to the engine's three liter cylinder displacement. The "SL" stood for "Sport Leicht" (Sport Light).

The 300SL was best known for both its distinctive gull wing doors and being the first-ever gasoline-powered car equipped with fuel injection directly into the combustion chamber. The gull wing version was available from March 1955 to 1957. Production of the roadster ended in 1963 with the introduction of the 230SL.


Posted Image

For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_300SL

Posted Image

Tomica, Corgi, and others did this model back in the 1970s and 1980s. The Tomica version is the best, while this Siku seems larger than even their normal 1/55 scale. The casting also appears to be chunkier than the real car.

Posted Image

Wikipedia
 
New York Mercedes distributor Max Hoffman, Daimler-Benz's official importer in the USA, suggested to DBAG management in Stuttgart that a street version of the 300SL would be a commercial success, especially in America.

The racing W194 300SL was built around a tubular chassis to offset its relatively underpowered carbureted engine. Designed by DBAG's chief developing engineer, Rudolf Uhlenhaut, the metal skeleton saved weight while still providing a high level of strength. Its unique architecture gave birth to the model's distinctive gull wing doors, as part of the chassis passed through what would be the lower half of a standard door. Even with the upward opening doors, the 300SL had an unusually high sill, making entry and exit from the car's cockpit problematic. A steering wheel with a tilt-away column was added to improve driver access.

The 300SL's body was mainly steel, except for the aluminum hood, doors and trunk lid. It could also be ordered with an all-aluminium outer skin at tremendous added cost, saving 80 kg (176 lb).

More than 80% of the vehicle's total production of approximately 1400 units were sold in the US, making the Gull wing the first Mercedes-Benz which sold in bulk outside its home market and confirming the validity of Hoffman's suggestion. The 300SL is credited for changing the company's image in America from a manufacturer of solid, but staid, automobiles to that of a producer of sporty cars.


Posted Image

Wikipedia
 
Today, the 300SL with its unique doors, technological firsts, and low production numbers is considered one of the most collectible Mercedes-Benz models of all time, with prices reaching well past the US$650,000 mark. Sports Car International magazine ranked the 300SL as the number 5 sports car of all time. A pair of 300SLs for sale in 2009 are offered at $1.3M USD from the Foxwood Collection, demonstrating that the price of and demand for this classic remains strong.

The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren is inspired by these 1950s automobiles.

Mercedes-Benz still supplies parts for every car they built. The factory also provides some of the best restoration services along with a handful of top-knotch independent outfits such as Mercedes-Benz trained 300SL guru Rudiger Koniczek of Rudi & Company in British Columbia, Canada (Since 1971), Paul Russell & Company in Essex, MA, Scott Grundfor in California in the USA & HK Engineering in Germany.


Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
STUTZ
Member Avatar
Diecast junkie
Very nice casting!

Another silver car for the COTW. Gold is better than silver, but I could cast my vote for this casting now.

Give this casting some serious competition. CO FOR THE GOLD!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
james_autos
Member Avatar
Minivan
It does look like a superb casting all around, even down to the wheels, and of course the opening gullwing doors.

I wouldn't say that it looked chunky though, but I would say it was perhaps a bit on the long side. I could be wrong, but it is actually longer than the 80's issue of the same casting. I'm sure there was one in their V-Series range in the 60's, so that would have been around 1:60 rather than 1:55 (V-Series models weren't uniformed to the exact same scale).

So that means that over a period of 40+ years, they've released 3 different castings of the same car :blink:
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
craftymore
Member Avatar
Support your local demo derby.

I'd agree with Stutz, this would be worth a vote for sure.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Sak
Member Avatar
Ezekiel 25:17
Marvelous choice!

I'm a genuine Gullwing fan. I have always believed that it looked best, by far, in silver.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
accobra64
Member Avatar
Minivan
A great choice for today.
This is an automobile that I have always liked.
I even built an AMT 1/24 or 1/25 plastic model of the MB 300SL when I was a kid and I painted it silver instead of red.
What was amazing about the kitwas the fact that it had the tubular chassis just like the real car. That was a fun model to build requiring lots of careful assembly.

Cheers. Cobra
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ivantt
Member Avatar
New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
I thought at first glance it was both longer and chunkier than the actual auto. Time for a $1 casting of this car that is reasonably accurate, so we can all own a few. Step up, please, Matchbox.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · Car Of The Day · Next Topic »
Add Reply



March's Picture of The Month Contest



Congratulations DinoMom for winning March's contest!



April's Picture of The Month Contest



Congratulations carsdownunder for winning April's contest!






Powered By

This board is best viewed at 1024 x 768 Resolution


eXTReMe Tracker