Bucket List Beauty

Behind the wheel of a 1961 300SL Roadster

Article Thomas Bonatz

Images Olivia Timpson, Elton Stephens

My first experience writing a driver’s review for The Star magazine, discussing the GLA45 AMG, had been very satisfying. I concentrated on pushing its limits both on track and off road as if it were a modern-day track car.  When I was offered the chance by a car-club friend to do a driving review on his 1961 300SL Roadster, I wasn’t sure whether I could do the same thing since this model couldn’t be described as a  “modern-day track car.” But of course, I still accepted the opportunity.

The car in question

Elton Stephens bought his classic Roadster in the mid-1980s from the renowned Paul Russell restoration company. That means that the car not only is much older than I am, but that Elton has owned it longer than I’ve been alive. According to the information he gave me, the 300SL was in excellent original condition when it came on the market. However, when Elton bought it – for about one-quarter of what a Roadster in the condition of his car would be worth today – he had Russell repaint it Mercedes Medium Blue in place of its factory-original light-grey finish.

The blue is a very attractive contrast with the original deep wine-red leather interior, which was in excellent condition and required only reconditioning. Of course, all the chrome was redone, the engine was gone through and completely detailed, and everything else in the car was throughly checked and refreshed. As a treat, Elton had a set of matching custom luggage made, which he has used with great satisfaction on three California Mille invitational classic car events. All of these details make the car even more interesting, adding to its provenance and surely increasing in its value. Duly noted, Elton.

Digging deeper 

However, my interest remained in the car itself: How it drove, the emotions it brought; those impressions when you are behind the wheel of a car you truly enjoy.

Of course, I already knew a little bit about the glamour, value and heritage of the 300SL.  I knew that the basic tube-frame chassis, gullwing body, and six-cylinder fuel-injected dry-sump engine had been adapted by Mercedes-Benz from its LeMans-winning gullwing racecars and introduced to consumers in 1954 to help change the company’s image in America. I knew that the gullwing Coupe was replaced in 1957 with the more practical but still beautiful open Roadster.

Doing a bit more research, I learned that the Roadster frame had been redesigned to incorporate real doors with wind-down windows and an open cockpit. To improve driving and handling, the new model had adapted the low-pivot swing axle with transverse compensating spring from the W196 racecar, another example of racing improving the breed.

Behind the wheel  

To be honest, I was not sure how I would feel driving a car of this type.  That “Wow” feeling when you try to contemplate that this is a million-dollar-plus vehicle? Strangely, not so. As Elton and I cruised through the twisty roads above Birmingham, Alabama, the feeling was completely different. The sounds, the smells, the driving action, were all a time portal back to the 1960s. The large steering wheel suitable for the car’s heavy steering, the wand-like shifter projecting up from the floor, the smell of gasoline and old leather, all evoke an emotional sentiment of  “This is what the top sports cars were in the 1960s.”  Even just looking at the car from a few feet away and soaking up the minor design details brings you to a different era, a different age when those design cues were perfectly at home.

And I liked that. Yes, compared to today’s cars it has many limitations, but this was a true sports car back in the day. I like the fact that a lot of amenities seen on today’s cars are not present here. This was not a car intended just as a means to get from one place to the next, but rather to enjoy the experience of the driving for its own sake. This car is an absolute time machine – a driver’s car then, and a true driver’s car now. It does not simply hearken back to a prior era of engineering, safety and lifestyle. When you slide into the seat, it simply transports you to that era. Welcome to the 1960s.

Still potent after all these years

While I am in this different world, I can tell you that this car does not like being driven slowly, or just shown off. Through the curves and hills it creates a very large appetite to be driven, with the stomach screaming for the roads of the Mille Miglia. This is the kind of car that wants you to drive it faster. I don’t want to wonder what it was like driving a car like this back then; I want to know. What did it handle like at the limit? How did it rotate through the corners? How did it feel dangling at the limit of grip with the tires of the 1960s?

With the appearance of a movie star, the car has a persona that encourages you to give it more and more…it begs to be driven hard. I want to push this machine to the limits, with leather gloves and goggles to complete the time-travel journey. Alas, my fantasies potentially would have landed me in trouble with the law, or given Elton – who was riding beside me – a stroke. And so they remained just fantasies.

 Previously, I had viewed the 300SL in ways most Mercedes-Benz enthusiasts have viewed it: an icon of the era, an engineering masterpiece, and a symbol for Mercedes-Benz itself. Now, having experienced the car, my feelings toward the model have changed. While it is unlikely that Elton’s car, with its value and history, will ever again see the track, or its driver will ever again take a blind curve over a rise at its limit, relying just on the co-driver to indicate what lies ahead, I am absolutely certain that the 300SL Roadster would still be quite at home doing so.

SPECIFICATIONS: 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster

TYPE: Two-door two-seat roadster with folding soft top and optional hardtop

ENGINE: M198 overhead-cam 2,996cc Inline-6, Bosch fuel injection, dry-sump lubrication

HORSEPOWER: 250 hp at 6,200 rpm • TORQUE: 228 lb-ft at 4,800 rpm (SAE Gross)

TRANSMISSION: 4-speed manual

WHEELBASE: 94.5 in • LENGTH: 180 in • CURB WEIGHT: 3,135 lb

TOP SPEED: 137 mph • ACCELERATION: Zero to 60 in 7.2 sec 

FUEL CONSUMPTION: 15-20 mpg

Images:

Comrades in arms: Thomas Bonatz (left) and Roadster owner Elton Stephens enjoying every detail of the droptop before taking turns behind the wheel on country roads – where the fun really begins.

Getting down to the heart of the matter: A drop-dead gorgeous machine with a throaty straight-6 song and an athletic chassis still more than eager to go out and deliver a timeless driving experience.