Inspired form and revolutionary function come together in the Mercedes Gullwing SL at number 6.”
“It’s such a work of art. It really is, you know, it’s stunning. It’s better than any Picasso.”
“The lines of the Gullwing are pretty much perfect. The frame of the car has its wonderful torch shape and yet has really voluptuous curves, but they’re not the voluptuous curves that, like the Chevy Corvette, which are a bit over the top and brazen and showy. These curves are kept in check and you know that the car has been designed to be super aerodynamic and yet it’s hugely glamorous at the same time.”
“Driving a car and then the doors got up a little gas struts was really Christ, but if you wanna make a steer in those days you arrive in a Gullwing, you’ve made it.”
“Certainly, the Gullwing is a milestone car, aesthetically, technologically. I mean it stunned the world when it came out. Everybody just went, “Holy Mack! Look at the technology that is put in that thing.”“
“Its tubular space frame made the Gullwing extra rigid, crucial for control at high speeds, and at only 82 kilograms, the frame was as light as a feather, but those same tubes took up a room where the bottom of the doors would go, so instead, they would hinge on the roof and lift up as opposed to out.”
“It was a practical piece of design, but warmed up becoming the car’s exotic signature.”
“I mean those doors were just unbelievable. They really look like a bird with the window—- with the doors open, and when you pull them down, you’re in this cocoon.”
“You know what [unk].”
“Getting out is more difficult because you actually gotta get your bottom on the ledge back up from the seat and swing out, but you see Mercedes gentlemen are so clever. [time-0:02:00] They have to think of all these things because what happens if a woman is driving wearing a skirt.”
“There’s a bar under the steering wheel. When you pull it out, the steering wheel goes out like that, so now you can raise yourself, flip your legs over. See, the gentlemen think of everything, damn them! Yet another innovation. This was the first production car in the world to use fuel injection. It was one of the most important high-tech advancements in the history [time-0:02:30] of sports cars and yet the concept of fuel injection is deceptively simple.”
“With a carburetor, you got pressure from the fuel tank barrel pumped, but it’s low pressure and when you put your foot on the accelerator, the fuel falls into the manifold like that, mixes with the air, explosive mix, and the car accelerates.”
“With fuel injection, it’s different because the fuel is actually propelled at high pressure into its cylinder, [time-0:03:00] mixed with the air, and it’s the exact amount of fuel, so it’s efficient. It is the most combustible fuel-air mix so that you get the biggest explosion, and therefore, the greatest amount of acceleration and no wastage.”
“Well-renowned the world over for its glamorous looks and technical achievements, it wasn’t always the easiest car to drive.”
“Driving it, it’s a truck. You know, it’s a big heavy thing. The brakes, you’ve gotta [time-0:03:30] push your, you know, the pedal through the floor to get it to stop.”
“And the exhaust ran right underneath the car, so the floorboard gets really, really hot. It will melt your tennis shoes, and it has big swing axle in the back, so when you really got a hole in the butt, you could get it squarely very easily, so it was sort of like riding the bull.”
“It was unpredictable on the corner and the suspension wasn’t actually very good. We should push it ’cause the rest of it is brilliant. [time-0:04:00]”
“It’s not the nicest engine, no. It’s not the nicest looking. It’s not the nicest interior, but as an overall package, it is one of the greatest.”
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