{"id":2211,"date":"2001-10-17T12:44:12","date_gmt":"2001-10-17T10:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/2001\/10\/mercedes-benz-sl-eredita-formali\/"},"modified":"2015-11-18T13:09:47","modified_gmt":"2015-11-18T12:09:47","slug":"mercedes-benz-sl-eredita-formali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/2001\/10\/mercedes-benz-sl-eredita-formali\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercedes-Benz SL Eredit\u00e0 formali"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload  wp-image-2205 alignleft\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27317%27%20height%3D%27177%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20317%20177%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27317%27%20height%3D%27177%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-orig-src=\"http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/1710200101_Mercedes_Benz_SL-300x167.jpg\" alt=\"1710200101_Mercedes_Benz_SL\" width=\"317\" height=\"177\" \/>The new Mercedes-Benz SL is a bridge between the brand&#8217;s past and future, its design making explicit reference to a historic sports car from Mercedes&#8217; glorious past, the gull-winged SL 300. This is not retro design, though.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This year&#8217;s SL is no carbon copy of its illustrious forebear, but revives its spirit in the light of contemporary Mercedes-Benz styling cues.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload  wp-image-2206 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/1710200102_Mercedes_Benz_SL-300x120.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/1710200102_Mercedes_Benz_SL-300x120.jpg\" alt=\"1710200102_Mercedes_Benz_SL\" width=\"318\" height=\"128\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27318%27%20height%3D%27128%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20318%20128%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27318%27%20height%3D%27128%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/1710200102_Mercedes_Benz_SL-300x120.jpg 300w, https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/1710200102_Mercedes_Benz_SL-320x130.jpg 320w, https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/1710200102_Mercedes_Benz_SL.jpg 324w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 318px) 100vw, 318px\" \/>The headlamp whose two ellipses melt into a single profile; its bladed radiator grille, the\u00a0triangular rear lighting cluster that wraps round the corners of the tail end; the door mirrors that incorporate the direction indicators: these are all unmistakable features of the current Mercedes range. But the designers of the new SL have also slotted in a quotation or two from the past: the ventilation slits in the front wing; the two air vents on the bonnet; a hint of old style instrument dials on the dashboard.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload  wp-image-2207 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/1710200103_Mercedes_Benz_SL-300x118.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/1710200103_Mercedes_Benz_SL-300x118.jpg\" alt=\"1710200103_Mercedes_Benz_SL\" width=\"320\" height=\"126\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27320%27%20height%3D%27126%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20320%20126%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27320%27%20height%3D%27126%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/1710200103_Mercedes_Benz_SL-300x118.jpg 300w, https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/1710200103_Mercedes_Benz_SL.jpg 335w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/>Aesthetic heritage apart, one of the key elements of the R230 project, as they called it, was the roof opening system. The Vario system that made such a successful debut on the SLK in 1996 has been further improved for the SL.\u00a0The designers in fact have created two cars in one. &#8220;With the roof up, we didn&#8217;t want it to look like a compromise, but like an attractive, perfectly proportioned coup\u00e9 or grand tourer. At the same time with the top down we wanted it to flaunt all the character of a true sports car&#8221;, explains Mercedes-Benz&#8217;s director of design, Peter Pfeiffer<\/p>\n<p>The SL has been designed for a variety of markets, the most important of which is North America. That explains why the concept phase was entrusted to an international team at the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Centre in Irvine, California.<\/p>\n<p><small><strong>The article continues in Auto &amp; Design no. 130<\/strong><\/small><\/p>\n<\/div>[images picture_size=&#8221;fixed&#8221; hover_type=&#8221;none&#8221; autoplay=&#8221;no&#8221; columns=&#8221;5&#8243; column_spacing=&#8221;13&#8243; scroll_items=&#8221;&#8221; show_nav=&#8221;yes&#8221; mouse_scroll=&#8221;no&#8221; border=&#8221;yes&#8221; lightbox=&#8221;yes&#8221; class=&#8221;&#8221; id=&#8221;&#8221;][image link=&#8221;&#8221; linktarget=&#8221;_self&#8221; image=&#8221;&#8221; alt=&#8221;&#8221;][\/images]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[images picture_size=&#8221;fixed&#8221; hover_type=&#8221;none&#8221; autoplay=&#8221;no&#8221; columns=&#8221;5&#8243; column_spacing=&#8221;13&#8243; scroll_items=&#8221;&#8221; show_nav=&#8221;yes&#8221; mouse_scroll=&#8221;no&#8221; border=&#8221;yes&#8221; lightbox=&#8221;yes&#8221; class=&#8221;&#8221; id=&#8221;&#8221;][image link=&#8221;&#8221; linktarget=&#8221;_self&#8221; image=&#8221;&#8221; alt=&#8221;&#8221;][\/images]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","category-design-story-en"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-29 18:45:53","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2211\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}