After rising from the ashes of postwar Europe, Mercedes-Benz returned to racing in 1952, winning the World Sports Car Championship with the now-famous 300SL factory sports racer. That might have been the end of the 300SL concept, as the factory was then planning a return to Grand Prix racing, but fate intervened in the form of New York automotive importer and Mercedes-Benz franchisee Max Hoffmann, who convinced Daimler Benz management to approve production of a roadgoing version of the 300SL. Built to the marque’s typically exacting standards, the production 300SL coupe and its smaller 190SL counterpart debuted to instant international acclaim in February 1954 at the International Motor Sports Show on Park Avenue in New York, a million-dollar pageant broadcast on nationwide television.
