Gull Wing Doors Mercedes

The mercedes benz 300 sl chassis code w 198 is a two seat sports car that was produced by mercedes benz as a gullwinged coupe 1954 1957 and roadster 1957 1963.

Gull wing doors mercedes. The doors themselves are quite light to lift helped by a gas strut but can be a stretch to fetch down as mercedes refused to add electrical assistance as it would add weight. The gull wing doors really hit the public eye when the back to the future films featured a delorean with a gull wing door. Opening upwards the doors evoke the image of a seagull s wings in french they are portes papillon butterfly. A gull wing door also known as a falcon wing door or an up door is an automotive industry term describing car doors that are hinged at the roof rather than the side as pioneered by the 1952 mercedes benz 300sl race car w194 and its road legal version w198 introduced in 1954.

While mercedes benz isn t the only car company to use gull wing doors they are the brand that started really pushing it as a luxury feature and they still do today. Mercedes produced a stunning car with gull wing doors as pictured above. Incredibly just five months later in february 1954 the mercedes benz 300 sl w 198 made its sensational debut at the international motor sports show in new york. But they re more than just some flashy design choice.

Back when mercedes popularized gull wings with the 300sl there was probably some kind of reason or rationale behind gull wings. Gull wing doors are so named because they move like the wings of a bird. But you certainly can t say it s for lack of ambition or style. It was based on the company s 1952 racer the w194 with mechanical direct fuel injection which boosted power almost 50 on its 3 litre overhead camshaft straight 6 engine.

The hinges are. Gullwing doors or falconwing doors if you must like the ones on the new tesla model x are undeniably cool. It s probably telling that almost every company that s ever used them is out of business now. Gullwing doors take way less.

The return of the look of the 300 sl with the anniversary editions seems to have inspired many other manufacturers like tesla to make gull wing car models. The straight six was rated at 215 bhp and would propel the car to speeds upwards of 160mph making it one of the fastest. Gullwing doors don t be gullible gull wing doors have been around from the very early days of the motor car. 2014 mercedes benz sls amg black series coupe amg solarbeam yellow with black leather alcantara inserts with red stitching black carpeting with red piping black alcantara headliner 6 2 liter v8 with 622bhp 7 speed amg speedshift dct sports transmission 12 000 miles from new 1 of 132 black series in usa 1 of 30 solarbeam yellow imported to the usa.

The new sports car exuded elegance and innovation in equal measure. Since then up swinging doors have pretty much just been the world s greatest statement of eccentricity. The road car that followed retained the racing version s strong tubular frame with high sills necessitating the gull wing doors and featured fully independent suspension and a fuel injected version of mercedes benz s 2 995cc single overhead camshaft engine. Capable of reaching a top speed of up to 263 km h 163.