With 50 already completed, the Pagoda is one of those cars that has known how to age as only good works of art do. A truly distinguished German roadster that was ahead of its time in certain technological and safety aspects.
The 60s had just begun and Mercedes was looking for a replacement for the 190/300 SL. The first was beginning to show the passing of time and the second, known as ‘gull wings’ due to its door opening system, was perhaps too expensive and only suitable for the deepest pockets. It was then that those responsible for the German firm began working on what would be the successor to the SL saga, an acronym that means ‘light sports car’ in German.
At that time, the new S-Class saloon, known by the internal code W112, had just seen the light of day, and nothing better than using its chassis and much of its technology to start building the small sports car they were up to. The frame, in fact, was the same, but cut by 30 centimeters, since the idea was to make a car with compact dimensions.
Fast, safe, comfortable
The Mercedes-Benz W113 was born, commonly known as ‘Pagoda’ due to the similarity of its roof with this type of Asian construction. At the 1963 Geneva Motor Show, it was presented to the general public in a presentation in which the brand’s technical director, Fritz Nallinger, said that they had created “a fast and safe sports car that, despite its performance, It is highly comfortable when traveling”.
And it is that these were the basic premises that the little Pagoda had to fulfill if he wanted to succeed in the society of those years. By the way, when he spoke of safety, Mr. Nallinger was referring, among other things, to the fact that his new model had a structure in which there was a safety cell and deformable zones strategically distributed throughout the body, whose objective was to protect the occupants. Today, this is nothing new, but at the time it was something quite new. All kinds of edges were also removed inside, leaving rounded sections visible to minimize damage to passengers in the event of an impact.
The Mercedes-Benz W113 Pagoda is now no less than 51 years old. A very mature age, despite which it continues to be one of the most coveted models of the brand. It is a two-seater convertible that was sold with a soft top and an optional hardtop that made it a coupé-cabrio. This roof, which could be easily removed and replaced with the intervention of four adults, was precisely what made it famous for its peculiar shapes, since it was higher than usual for this type of car. As a consequence of its large glass surfaces, interior visibility was really good, although it is also true that it slightly affected aerodynamics. The latter, in reality, mattered little, since the W113 was a fairly fast car.
Mechanics
The first version was called 230 SL and was equipped with a six-cylinder in-line engine, with 2.3 liters and 150 CV, which allowed it to reach 200 km/h, a not insignificant figure for the time. As standard it mounted a six-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic (the most demanded in the US, which ended up being one of its main markets). As an option you could choose a five-speed manual transmission signed by ZF.
The second version, the 250 SL, arrived in 1966 with some aesthetic changes and a new engine under the hood, which was actually an evolution of the 230 with displacement increased to 2.5 liters and higher torque that improved the response in the low area of the rev counter. In this evolution of the Pagoda, for the first time and as an option, a limited-slip differential was offered to improve cornering traction.
The final version made an appearance in 1967 under the name 280 SL and remained on sale until the arrival of the next generation of the SL in 1971. Its main novelty was the 170 CV 2.8 engine.
And so came the end of a model that left no one indifferent during its eight years of life. Not only is its attractive aesthetic important, but it also went down to posterity for being one of the few who cared about lightness through the use of aluminum in different parts of the body, and for combining pleasant and efficient dynamics with a high level of comfort.
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