Beshoff MotorCars

This summer, a new Mercedes-Benz supercar arrives: a 200-mph road and track star that will deliver the brand's highest performance technology in a stunning coupe body. It's history repeating.

Mercedes-Benz treats its heritage with the utmost respect, and that shows in how closely the brand follows ideals that have been in place for many decades. Illustrating this philosophy quite sharply is the 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, coming this summer, and one of its forebears, the 1954-1957 300 SL - AKA the "Gullwing."

Understandably, the state of the art for sportscars in 1954 was fairly primitive by today's standards, and every day drivability was a question mark for many. Then, with one model, Mercedes-Benz advanced that state with a sportscar that was pure engineering art - the 300 SL. It was the kind of thinking that went into that car that cemented the brand's penchant for innovative engineering and timeless design. That a 300 SL remains one of the world's most sought-after collectible automobiles validates that claim. Today, a 300 SL coupe can fetch over half a million dollars.

In the early 1950s, Mercedes-Benz turned its attention to racing and, in a fairly short amount of time, came up with a racing coupe called the 300 SL. The letters stood for the German "Sport Leicht" (Sport Light), a reference to the car's 1,900-pound weight. Only a handful of these racecars were built, but they had a resounding impact on sportscar racing around the globe. Soon, Mercedes customers and dealers were asking for a production version for the road.

Direct involvement from the U.S. Mercedes distributor at the time, Max Hoffman, ensured there would be a street version of the 300 SL. The road car was heavier than the racer, but it had more power, greater comfort and was perfectly suitable for every day driving - while still offering track capability. The "gullwing"-style doors, which opened into the roof, were no mere flight of design fancy, but rather were necessitated by the racecar-derived chassis.

Only 1,400 300 SL coupes were built through 1957, when the model was replaced by the 300 SL Roadster.

The rest of the 300 SL was no less revolutionary for the time. Four-wheel independent suspension, for example, did not become widespread among sportscars until the 1960s. And under the 300 SL's hood, there was a feature that would not be used in production cars again until recently - direct fuel injection. In the 300 SL, this system was purely mechanical, not like the computer-controlled systems in place today. But it was a major leap over the carburetors used on even high-end sportscars of that time.

The original 300 SL's 215 hp and zero-to-60 time of about eight seconds may not seem very exciting today, but those were impressive figures in a time when Detroit greatly exaggerated its horsepower figures and an average family sedan could take 14 seconds or more to hit 60 mph.

The 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG has its own story to tell. And, like the 300 SL from 55 years ago, it promises to set new performance standards with a hand built 563-hp V8 engine, seven-speed dual-clutch paddle-shift transmission, aluminum construction for low weight and Formula One-type suspension. The AMG SLS arriving this summer will go from zero-to-60 in under four seconds and hit a top track speed of nearly 200 mph. Once you've climbed inside those iconic gullwing doors, the SLS will offer pure 21^st-century Mercedes-Benz handling, comfort and safety.