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Mercedes-Benz W113

Paul Bracq · 1963

The Pagoda isn’t elegant — it’s resolved.

Worth your time?4/5Yes.Drive the whole thing.What works, what does not, who it is for ↓
9:23in productionCh. 1 · A successor, not a stopgap/ 9:23 · ceiling 15 min
4 chapters · 9:23Ceiling 15:00

The brief is written and checked. The video joins this page when it is cut.4 chapters · 1 min read · 9:23 planned

Read the brief

The Mercedes-Benz W113 is a two-seat luxury roadster/coupé introduced in 1963. It replaced the 300 SL and 190 SL. It was marketed as the 230 SL, 250 SL and 280 SL. Paul Bracq and Béla Barényi co-designed its patented concave hardtop — the source of the 'Pagoda' nickname. All models used a fuel-injected inline-six engine. Aluminium was used on the bonnet, boot lid, door skins and tonneau cover to reduce weight. 48,912 units were produced, with 19,440 sold in the US.

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Chapters & takeaways4
  1. 1:09
    A successor, not a stopgap

    It replaced the 300 SL and 190 SL with a single, scalable luxury roadster platform.

  2. 2:38
    The roof that named the car

    Bracq and Barényi co-designed a patented concave hardtop — the source of the 'Pagoda' name.

  3. 4:19
    Engine and alloy: precise, not extravagant

    All models used fuel-injected inline-six engines. Aluminium was used only on non-structural outer panels.

  4. 5:38
    Three names, one idea

    It was sold as three variants — 230 SL, 250 SL, 280 SL — across eight years and 48,912 units.

1 more chapterFewer chapters
Worth your time?

Yes. Drive the whole thing.

4/ 5
What works
  • gets the proportions right: long bonnet, compact cabin, short rear deck
  • gets the hardtop right: functional, patent-protected, visually defining
  • gets material use right: aluminium where it matters most without over-engineering
What does not
  • prioritise driver feedback through the steering wheel
  • depart from conventional front-engine/RWD packaging
  • offer lightweight chassis architecture
Drive it if
  • someone who values understated presence, build integrity and formal coherence in a roadster
Skip it if
  • someone who demands visceral feedback, mechanical simplicity or driver-focused dynamics
Who should drive it, and who should skipHide who it is for
The written brief1 min read

What the car is and where it came from

A two-seat luxury roadster/coupé introduced in 1963. Developed under Fritz Nallinger and Rudolf Uhlenhaut. Styled by Paul Bracq and Béla Barényi. Marketed as 230 SL, 250 SL and 280 SL.

How it works, in terms someone would actually use

Front-engine, rear-wheel drive. Fuel-injected inline-six engine powers the rear axle. Aluminium panels on bonnet, boot lid, door skins and tonneau cover cut weight. The patented concave hardtop fits flush over the cabin.

What it gets right

It gets the proportions right: long bonnet, compact cabin, short rear deck. It gets the hardtop right: functional, patent-protected, visually defining. It gets material use right: aluminium where it matters most without over-engineering.

What it does not

It does not offer lightweight chassis architecture. It does not prioritise driver feedback through the steering wheel. It does not depart from conventional front-engine/RWD packaging to pursue agility or balance.

What it changed

It replaced the 300 SL and 190 SL with a unified, production-feasible luxury roadster/coupé platform. It established the ‘Pagoda’ as a design signature — not just a roof shape, but a structural and stylistic resolution for open-top grand touring.

Who it is for, and who it is not

It is for someone who values understated presence, build integrity and formal coherence in a roadster. It is not for someone who demands visceral feedback, mechanical simplicity or driver-focused dynamics.

Is it worth your time

Yes — if you value a cleanly resolved two-seat luxury roadster that bridges engineering rigour and visual restraint. No — if you seek raw performance, driver engagement or structural novelty.

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9:33
Mercedes-Benz 190 SLKarl Wilfert · 1955The Mercedes-Benz 190 SL is a two-door luxury roadster produced from May 1955 to February 1963. It was internally designated W121 (BII). It was first shown in prototype at the 1954 New York Auto Show. It was available with an optional removable hardtop. It was a more affordable alternative to the 300 SL. Both cars had double wishbones in front and swing axles at the rear. Instead of the 300 SL's tubular spaceframe, the 190 SL used a shortened unitary floorpan modified from the W121 saloon. It was powered by a Type M121 BII 1.9 L straight-four SOHC engine.
9:06
BMW 3 Series (E21)Paul Bracq · 1975The E21 is the first-generation BMW 3 Series. Paul Bracq designed it. It launched in June 1975. It ended production in December 1983. It replaced the 02 Series. It was built exclusively as a two-door sedan or coupé. It did not offer a Touring variant. Six-cylinder models used quad round headlights. Initial engines were carburetted four-cylinders (1.6 L, 1.8 L, 2.0 L). Fuel injection debuted on the 320i in late 1975. The 323i introduced fuel-injected six-cylinders in 1978.
11:53
Mercedes-Benz 300 SLFriedrich Geiger · 1954The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (W198) is a two-seat sports car produced from 1954 to 1957 as a gullwing coupé and from 1957 to 1963 as a roadster. Developed from the 1952 W194 racing car, it introduced mechanical direct gasoline fuel injection to production vehicles, achieved 260 km/h — the highest speed of any production car at the time — and featured groundbreaking gullwing doors and a lightweight tubular-frame construction. Its ‘L’ stands for ‘leicht’, meaning light, reflecting its racing-bred minimalism. Max Hoffman proposed the car to Mercedes-Benz after the 1952 racing successes, and Fritz Konecke approved an order for 1,000 units ahead of its February 1954 debut at the New York Auto Show.
9:54
Ferrari 308 GTB/GTSLeonardo Fioravanti · 1975The Ferrari 308 GTB/GTS is a V8 mid-engined two-seater sports car designed by Leonardo Fioravanti at Pininfarina and produced by Ferrari from 1975 to 1985. It features a tube-frame chassis with a separate body, a transversely mounted flat-plane crankshaft 90-degree V8 engine with dual overhead camshafts per bank, a 5-speed dog-leg manual gearbox, limited-slip differential, all-independent double-wishbone suspension with anti-roll bars, four-wheel vented disc brakes, and unassisted rack-and-pinion steering. Early GTB models used GRP bodies (1975–1977), later switching to steel; all GTS models were steel-bodied. The model evolved through carburetted, fuel-injected (GTBi/GTSi), and quattrovalvole (four-valve) variants, with distinct power outputs and technical updates. Rally versions were developed by Michelotto for Group 4 and Group B competition, including the purpose-built GT/M. The car gained iconic status via its role in Magnum, P.I., and was named number five on Sports Car International’s Top Sports Cars of the 1970s list in 2004.
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The W126 didn’t chase speed — it redefined what luxury meant when standing still and when moving slowly.

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10:26