“Sport” and “light” may have been in its name, but by the 1980s, the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class roadster was anything but. Mercedes embraced its evolved grand touring nature when it came time for a redesign as the roaring 1980s came to a close.
The R129-generation SL, as it was known internally at Mercedes-Benz, was the ultimate roadster for drivers seeking old-world excess. Theoretically, it had big tires to fill by replacing its long-lived, 1970s-era predecessor, but that model had been outdated for a decade and largely traded on its reputation.
In Europe, the 1980s SL had retained at least some semblance of its sporty roots (the letters SL stood for “Sport-Leight” in German) with continued manual transmission availability. Over here, however, Mercedes dressed every car in leather and wood and sold them to Beverly Hills drivers who prioritized style above all else.
Even though it was far more advanced than its predecessor, the R129-generation model had a buttoned-up feel that didn’t invite especially frisky driving. The Mazda MX-5 Miata arrived around the same time, but the two roadsters shared little more than four wheels, two seats, and an open top.
With its redesign, the SL went in a vastly more upmarket direction than ever before. Its crisp, clean lines were matched by a new lineup of engines ranging from inline-6 to mainstream V8 to attention-grabbing V12 flavors. Even by today’s standards, the SL was a piece of high-tech wizardry with options such as a power-adjustable interior rearview mirror, a roll bar that deployed automatically if it detected an impending rollover, and a switchblade-style remote-locking key fob.
Amazingly, however, Mercedes saw fit to offer U.S. buyers a manual transmission as standard fare for the first three model years — an item that had not been offered on an American SL since the 1970s. The take rate was meager; documentation in the late 1990s suggested that Mercedes built fewer than 500 manual-transmission roadsters. At the time, Mercedes-Benz said there were no 1993 SL models with a manual gearbox. But today’s Autotrader Find, this Brilliant Silver 1993 300 offered by a dealer in Atlanta, proves otherwise.
The 1993 Mercedes-Benz 300SL 5-Speed has a dog-leg pattern gear lever.
The photos clearly show a 5-speed manual transmission with a dog-leg pattern gear lever (first gear is down and left). Additionally, an online build sheet using the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) shows that the transmission is a type 717 — Mercedes-speak for a 5-speed manual.
The M104 3.0-liter inline-6 pushed a relatively modest 228 horsepower to the rear wheels through that gearbox, nearly 90 ponies less than the optional 5.0-liter V8 and well off the 389-hp V12. Those models came only with a 4-speed automatic, however. If you wanted three pedals in a droptop Mercedes in 1993, you had to buy a 300 SL.
Interestingly, Mercedes quoted a slower 0-60-mph sprint for the manual gearbox — 8.7 seconds versus 8.3 seconds for the electronically-controlled 5-speed automatic (yes, the 300 SL’s automatic had one more cog than its higher-end siblings). It’s hard to put a number on driving fun, though.
The build sheet also confirms this particular SL was built for the U.S. market. Its June 1993 delivery date suggests that perhaps its original owner was aware that Mercedes would drop the manual from the American market for the 1994 model year.
We can only speculate about its early history, but what we can say today is that this is certainly an exceptionally rare SL. It now shows just under 50,000 miles, and the dealer is asking $52,000. See Mercedes-Benz SL-Class models for sale
