I thank whomever for the subject change that now includes the 250SL.
With all the other 250SL owners providing excellent pic's and text of many of the differences, I feel far less like a lone stray cat... but now feel part of a group of other strays!... the 250SL, despite my preferences, will remain in the annuls of history and most W113 owners as a stray, interim version of the 280SL. It's only those that have a preference for the bling and other original cosmetic features of the 230SL while also preferring the major mechanical changes and improvements over the 230SL that will opt for the lonely 250SL.
Noting the differences is only to the advantage of all W113 owners and prospective owners so that we all benefit from the knowledge... the more we know the more we can appreciate the differences.... we're driving a part of the history of "sports" cars don't forget. You'll note that as time progressed, the beauty and lines of the E-Type from the same period didn't evolved into the current class of sports cars (excluding the exotics perhaps), rather the evolution has been from the relatively 'boxy' version of the W113's.... accentuated even the more-so by it's inverted roofline (the "pagoda" roof). Porsche was the exception... but even it has evolved to the more boxy styles.
I think this thread does great service to all the differences among models that were discussed... preferences aside.
There were many other mostly mechanical differences ---- independent of the engine block itself, oil coolers (water cooled) came out with the 250SL, and was changed to an air cooled one on the 280SL's for just one example... dual sensed brake fluid lines, etc., but most of the mechanical differences occurred during the 230SL run... with change after change being made during the course of it's evolution into the 250SL interim and 280SL final model.
I might add that another difference between the earlier 230SL's and the later ones were that the original "radial" tire's on the 230SL were not true radials (they were even called "halp guertel" tires (literally half belted, or half radial by our vernacular) by MB... the full radials weren't offered as an option until later... 2nd or 3rd year of the 230SL run.... I can look it up but won't unless somebody really needs to know. The true radials stiffened up the sidewalls. I've noticed the difference in handling immediately between my '84 Michelin XVS's and my new current Yokahama Avid T4's --- a supposed step up in performance from the Avid Touring tires. The T4's are much softer in the ride and much much less stiff in the turns... than the XVS's were. When I changed my shocks (new Bilstein's from my old Bilsteins) a couple weeks later I noticed an even softer ride ... cornering unchanged. This is the first time I've understood what MB developers wanted in their "ride comfort".... definitely not a 'sports' car ride.... my wife is thrilled with the new 'ride' though. Me?... I'm going to put as much pressure in the tires as the mfg'er's max allows.... but I think I'm already close to this.
I've also been thinking about why my preference for the cosmetic features of the 250SL over those of the 280SL's. Why do I like the bling in the 250's and 230's? I don't prefer chrome and lots of brightwork in new cars... so why do I like it in the W113's? I think the answer is that I like the period features... i.e. if they'ed been all black anodized aluminum instead of chrome I'd probably prefer that since it would reflects authenticity of the period. The "period" began in '63/'64... when I still lived in Germany... and was a carryover from the 190SL period of the late 50's and early 60's.... when I was also living in Germany. With the approach of the 70's things had begun to change... both in Europe and in the US ---counter culture in US, flower power, simplicity of functional design, etc Europe had begun to take on a more "modern" stance after their postwar reconstruction phase... MB reflected this in their sedan designs, BMW in their downsizing from the behemoth touring sedan to their much smaller (nimble handling) sedan's.
So on reflection I'd adopted an early sixties period admiration of the W113's... so the changes to the 280SL are (to me) a reflection of the modernization period that began in the mid-late 60's in Germany and the US... and don't reflect as directly the earlier period I'd adopted as preferential... recalling that I was at the Frankfurt International Autoshow when the 230SL debuted in Germany... and of course I was enamored by it immediately. Also, I must admit, as my wife now often reminds me, "you are your father."... so my father's preference for the 250SL over the 230SL & 280SL rubbed off on me as well. Try as I might have as a youth and young adult to be "different" than my father, we apparently become our fathers unknowingly in many respects, anyway.
As for the very, very few of us that own one of the very few remaining
early[i/] 250SL's left in the world, we should know what we own and how they're distinguished from the earlier and later W113's. ... as should the other W113 owners. They are indeed the rarest of the rarest of the breed. Know what you own.
Longtooth
67 250SL US #113-043-10-002163
The 6% Club - Best of the Best
'02 SL500 Sport
