CONVERTIBLE ASSETS
At the age of 16 I fell in love. There, sharing the pages of a car magazine with a Ferrari 308 and a Jaguar XJ, was the Mercedes-Benz R107 SL. I dreamed of one for 14 years, before – finally! – buying a 500 SL to celebrate my 30th birthday. Today, 21 years and 100,000km later, she is still with me. And now, here we are, celebrating the R107’s 50th anniversary.
It will be quite hard for me to remain neutral as I describe the R107’s story. But what you can’t argue with is that this is the longest-lived Mercedes passenger car ever, in production for a healthy 18 years (only the military-based G-wagen was built for longer), from 1971 to 1989. It’s also the most prolific generation of the SL, selling a total of 237,287 examples during that time, increasing to 300,175 if you include the long-wheelbase SLC coupé.
It was a hit from day one, revolutionising the way a sporting convertible two-seater was perceived and making it very easy to use on a daily basis. And, even though the R107 might still seem relatively modern despite the five decades since its launch, let’s bear in mind what most people of the period were driving. In 1971 the best-selling car in Britain was the Austin-Morris 1100/1300; Germans liked the Volkswagen Beetle; Peugeot dominated in France with the 204; while
