c107 Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC the four-seater sports coupé S-class 1978

c107 Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC from http://www.gieldaklasykow.pl/mercedes...

When the new touring sports car of the R 107 series was presented in April 1971, the issue of whether a new large Coupé should be developed at Mercedes-Benz still remained unanswered. The discussion centered on whether one should add, and in the near future, design a four-seater sports coupé based on the R 107 series, or wait for the coming S-Class (116 series) to build it on that basis. But in that case, a production model would not have arrived until much later, in the mid-1970s. Karl Wilfert, then the head of Body Design in Sindelfingen, developed – pretty much on his own authority – a Coupé based on the R 107 and presented it one day to the Board of Management as a “rough draft”. Rejected at first, Wilfert managed to push through his idea of a sports Coupé with the tenacity which was so characteristic of him. And so six months after its premiere the SL Roadster was followed in October 1971 by a comfortable four-seater Sports Coupé, the 350 SLC, whose unconventional lines also found it many friends around the world in the course of the years. The series was given the internal designation C 107. In 1972 Mercedes-Benz launched the 450 SLC, whose engine (M 117) developed an output of 165 kW at 5000 rpm. The top speed was 215 km/h, and it needed 8.8 seconds to go from 0 to 100 km/h. Like the 450 SL, the 450 SLC was destined exclusively for export to North America prior to March 1973; after that Mercedes-Benz included them in the general sales range.

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source: gieldaklasykow.pl
photo: Adam Piotrowski, Studio Dada