MERCEDES-BENZ 300-SL ROADSTERS—1958 AND 50 YEARS HENCE

“TURN RIGHT AT THE VALKYRIE, AND Drive Straight to Valhalla,” read R&T’s subhead for its January 1958 Road Test of the 300-SL Roadster.  

Image from “Brooklands Double Twelve,” SimanaitisSays, describing this event in 2008—50 years after 1958 when I drove a 300-SL Roadster courtesy of the company’s Undertürkheim museum.

Here are tidbits gleaned from R&T’s 1958 300-SL Road Test, together with recollections of my own Brooklands Double Twelve 50 years later.

Factory Designation: R&T noted back in 1958, “The new car is designated by the factory as the 300-SL Roadster and should not be called the 300-SLR, which is, of course, the straight-8 factory racing type. Actually, the new body is a true convertible coupe with frameless wind-up windows and a folding cloth top.”

Changes from the Original Coupe.  “Mechanically,” R&T said, “the detail changes made in some of the later (but now discontinued) hard-top coupes are included in the convertible: principally a higher compression ratio and the so-called competition camshaft.”

Goodbye, Gullwings. R&T recounted, “The multi-tube frame has been extensively redesigned to retain its original rigidity and yet allow lower-cut doors of conventional front-hinged pattern.” Indeed, it was a bit of reverse engineering: The coupe’s innovative gullwing doors were necessitated by its higher multi-tube design.

Coupe Vs. Roadster? Ask Paul O’Shea. R&T noted of its comparison testing, “Not incidentally, one of nation’s best drivers was at the wheel. Paul O’Shea, National point champion for 1957 and well known for his proficienty at the wheel of a 300-SL was our test driver. 

Top Speed? Er…, No. R&T confessed, “Conditions at the test strip we use were almost perfect, and it was a terrible temptation to try just one high-speed run, but we had promised Hollywood Mercedes-Benz people that we would not.”

Instead, the magazine quoted official factory data, dependent, of course, on axle ratio. These varied from the tallest 3.25:1 ratio giving 155 mph to the 4:11:1 yielding 129 mph max (and quickest acceleration). R&T’s test car had a 3.89:1, next shortest, yielding 130 mph at a peak 6200 rpm and 0-60 in 7.0 seconds.

Trepidation of a Six-Figure Valuation. “We spent two days at the wheel of this magnificent machine,” the magazine enthused, “with enjoyment because of the car’s combination of qualities but with some trepidation over the responsibility of its six-figure valuation.”

I would have shared their trepidation: The CPI Inflation Calculator says $10,970 in 1955 is equivalent to $132,727.96 today. Gulp.

What’s more, current market values of 300-SL roadsters range from $1 million to more than $2.5 million, depending upon condition, rarity, and history. 

Handling. “With the low-pivot rear suspension and more adhesive tires,” R&T reported, “the car handles beautifully under all conditions. This is a tremendous improvement of the hard-top models, which had a tendency to oversteer rather violently if pressed too hard. The roadster appears to be absolutely neutral-steering, though eventually the rear end will break away rather suddenly.” 

Double-gulp.

R&T Sums Up in 1958: “While the price asked seems almost astronomical, there is no doubt that the 300-SL Roadster is a truly dual-purpose sports car, equally at home in traffic and the open road, or on the track.”

My Brooklands Experience, 2008. “The car is very easy to drive and to control,” my R&T research (in the 1958 road test) indicated. “The steering wheel is placed very far forward, which some, but not all, drivers like. The clutch is light and the gearbox control is almost ideal….”

R&T continued, “… a 6-foot driver may object to hitting his elbow on the seat when pulling the lever into 2nd gear.” What with my short-legged/long-torso 6-ft, I fit just fine, thank you….

I recounted here at SimanaitisSays, “Those competing for Double Twelve awards had events such as a Steering Test—a five-gate slalom held on a portion of the Members’ Circuit, just where it flattens out from the Banking—and a Quick Start involving both reverse and forward maneuvering between hay bales.”

I’m aiming to straddle the finish line on heavy braking. 

“There were also timed regularity laps around Mercedes-Benz World’s twisty test circuit,” I recounted, “a complex “Wiggle-Woggle” gymkhana and (except for the Veterans and Edwardians) a run up Brooklands legendary Test Hill.”

And there was also opportunity for a happy snap on the fabled Brooklands Banking. Needless to say, a good time was had by all. ds 

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025