See Mercedes-Benz SL-Class

Mercedes-Benz SL-Class

The Mercedes-Benz SL is a grand tourer manufactured by Mercedes since 1954. The designation SL derives from the German Sport Leicht, or Sport Lightweight — and was first applied to the 300SL 'Gullwing' named also after its gullwing or upward-opening doors.The term SL-Class refers to the...

 for a complete overview of all SL-Class models.

The Mercedes-Benz 190SL is a two door grand touring

Grand tourer

A grand tourer is a high-performance luxury automobile designed for long-distance driving. The most common format is a two-door coupé with either a two-seat or a 2+2 arrangement....

 convertible

Convertible

A convertible is a type of automobile in which the roof can retract and fold away having windows which wind-down inside the doors, converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle...

 with a removable hardtop that was produced by Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

 between May 1955 and February 1963. A prototype was first shown at the 1954 New York Auto Show.

The 190SL was sold alongside the faster, more expensive Mercedes-Benz 300SL

Mercedes-Benz 300SL

The Mercedes-Benz 300SL was introduced in 1954 as a two-seat, closed sports car with distinctive gull-wing doors. Later it was offered as an open roadster...

, which it closely resembled both in its styling, engineering, detailing and fully independent suspension, both cars having double wishbone suspension

Double wishbone suspension

In automobiles, a double wishbone suspension is an independent suspension design using two wishbone-shaped arms to locate the wheel. Each wishbone or arm has two mounting points to the chassis and one joint at the knuckle. The shock absorber and coil spring mount to the wishbones to control...

s at the front and swing axle

Swing axle

A swing axle is a simple type of independent suspension first used in early aircraft , such as the Sopwith and Fokker, usually with rubber bungee and no damping....

s at the rear. However, the 190SL did not use the 300SL's purpose-built tubular spaceframe W198 platform, but was built on a shortened and rust-prone monocoque

Monocoque

Monocoque is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin, as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin or coachwork...

 R121 platform that modified from the W121 small saloon.

The 190SL was powered by a new, slightly oversquare 1.9 L straight-four SOHC engine (Type M121 BII), that developed 105 PS (or 120 gross hp) that earned itself a reputation for not running that smoothly mostly due to the difficulty in properly synchronising the twin-choke dual Solex carburetors, and that, in detuned form, was later also used in the W120

Mercedes-Benz W120

The Mercedes-Benz W120 and W121 "Ponton" cars were produced from 1953 through 1962. They were sold under the "'180" and "190" model names....

 180 and W121 190 models. The four cylinder engine block of the 190SL was based on the six cylinder engine of the 300 SL. The 85 mm bore was transferred unchanged from the larger engine to the smaller, although the stroke for the 190 SL was reduced from 88.0 mm to 83.6 mm.
The car was available either as a soft-top convertible (initially priced at DM 16,500/US$ 3,998) or with removable hardtop (DM 17,650/$ 4,295). Optional was a third-passenger transverse seat that could even fit an adult. During its first years the 190SL was available as a sports-racing model with small perspex windscreen and spartan one-piece leather covered bucket seats and aluminum doors, although any competition aspirations were modest. In 1959, the hardtop's rear window was enlarged.

Both the 190SL and the 300SL were replaced by the Mercedes-Benz 230SL

Mercedes-Benz W113

The Mercedes-Benz W 113 roadsters, designed by Paul Bracq, were produced from 1963 through 1971. Their distinctive "pagoda" hardtop roof, designed by Béla Barényi, gave them their contemporary nickname...

in 1963.