Porsche assembled the Mercedes-Benz 500 E in its own Zuffenhausen plant, and that tells you how seriously Mercedes took driving fun. The brand is better known for comfort and safety. However, these seven cars show the other side, from a rally-winning roadster to a gullwing built by AMG.
They run from 1963 to 2014. Some are rare and costly now, while others still trade for used-car money. Each one, though, was built for people who enjoy the drive itself.
1. 1963 Mercedes-Benz 230 SL
The 230 SL made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1963. At the same time, it replaced both the 300 SL Roadster and the 190 SL. Its removable hardtop curved inward, like the roof of an Asian temple, which is why fans call it the Pagoda.
Underneath, a 2,306cc six made 150 hp, because Mercedes based it on the 220 SE’s engine. A short, stiffened frame from the W 111 saloon carried crumple zones front and rear. Then, in August 1963, Eugen Böhringer and Klaus Kaiser won the Spa–Sofia–Liège rally in a 230 SL, according to MBpassion’s 60th-anniversary history. Mercedes built 19,831 of the 230 SL before the 250 SL replaced it in late 1966.
2. 1983 Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.3-16
Mercedes gave its compact 190 sedan a 16-valve head developed with Cosworth. As a result, output jumped from 136 bhp in the base car to 185 bhp. It also got a lower suspension, a limited-slip differential and wider tires.
The launch party, however, was unusual. In May 1984, 20 identical, lightly modified cars raced at the Nürburgring with a grid of Formula 1 drivers. A young Ayrton Senna won, ahead of Niki Lauda, as Petrolicious recounts. Earlier, in August 1983, the car had lapped the Nürburgring in 8 minutes 46 seconds, Silodrome notes.
3. 1991–1995 Mercedes-Benz 500 E
The Mercedes-Benz 500 E squeezed a 5.0-liter, four-valve V8 into the W124 sedan. Porsche’s Weissach engineers reworked the suspension and lowered the car by 23 mm. Series production ran from 1991 to 1995, and the car became the E 500 in 1993.
As a result, the work moved between two companies. Mercedes painted the bodies at Sindelfingen, and then Porsche did final assembly in Zuffenhausen, according to a Mercedes-Benz classic release reprinted by Conceptcarz. The 500 E made 326 hp and reached 100 km/h in 6.1 seconds. Porsche’s own media kit puts the total at 10,479 cars.
4. 1999 Mercedes-Benz SL 73 AMG
AMG bored out the SL 600’s 6.0-liter V12 to 7.3 liters for this R129 roadster. The result was the biggest V12 Mercedes had put in a road car, The Drive says, with 525 hp. RM Sotheby’s lists 520 hp, so the published figures vary slightly.
In fact, only 85 SL 73s were reportedly built. Meanwhile, AMG sold about as many of these engines to Pagani for the Zonda. In February 2021, RM Sotheby’s sold a 1999 SL 73 AMG for €170,500.
5. 2002 Mercedes-Benz SLK 32 AMG
The SLK 32 AMG put a supercharged 3.2-liter V6 in Mercedes’ small folding-hardtop roadster. AMG built that M112 engine, and it made 349 hp and 332 lb-ft. It shifted through a five-speed 5G-Tronic automatic.
In total, about 4,330 were built, and 2,056 of them were US-spec cars, according to Jalopnik. That makes it a rare AMG, yet it can be cheap. For example, Jalopnik looked at a 2002 car with 97,300 miles listed at $11,000.
6. 2008 Mercedes-Benz CLK 63 AMG Black Series
MotorWeek says Mercedes modeled this coupe on the official Formula 1 safety car. Also, the rear seats came out to save weight. Its 6.2-liter V8, the first engine AMG designed entirely in-house, made 500 hp and 465 lb-ft.
In its own road test, MotorWeek ran 0 to 60 mph in 4.1 seconds and praised turn-in that was “lightning quick.” The car also had a fully adjustable suspension unique to the Black Series. Only 350 came to the US, at $135,775 each.
7. 2010–2014 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
The SLS AMG brought back gullwing doors in 2009, with a debut at the Frankfurt show. RM Sotheby’s calls it the first car developed exclusively by AMG. Its 6.2-liter V8 made 563 bhp and drove through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox.
Meanwhile, Magna Steyr built the aluminum chassis and body shell in Graz, Austria. European sales started in mid-2010, and a roadster followed in 2011. Production ran through 2014, with roughly 6,500 cars built, according to RM Sotheby’s. The auction house sold a 2012 roadster for $148,400 in Arizona in 2018.
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