Almost right on the day 60 years after its premiere public appearance on 12th March 1952, the first SL sports car by Mercedes-Benz, which initially was developed for racing, celebrates another premiere at TECHNO-CLASSICA: the world classic show in Essen is the opening event for a series of official birthday parties for the legendary sports car 300 SL. The large Mercedes-Benz factory stand in hall 1 is themed "60 Years of SL". As last year, when the star stand initially dedicated itself to one single theme instead of several topics, this year the Mercedes-Benz area also deals with one issue: the Mercedes-Benz SL - "Super Light".

In the course of its career, the two-seater with the star has constantly brought technical innovations: after the original 300 SL caused a furore in 1952 with a double victory at the 24 hour race of Le Mans and the murderous Carrera Panamericana in Mexico as well as with other races, the first series model on sale, a 300 SL gullwing-door type of the W 198 series, established a standard in series automobile construction: it was the first series passenger car with four-stroke engine with direct injection.

With eight SL cars on exhibit, the Mercedes-Benz exhibition at TECHNO-CLASSICA not only imparts the fascination of the SL, but also shows examples of progress with respect to technology and design - for example with the hard top of the 230 SL "Pagoda" (W 113) presented in 1963 or with the roll-over bar of the SL of the R 129 series (1989-2001), which automatically rises up in case of a rollover.

The following exhibits are to give proof of the role of a technology leader also for the construction of sports cars claimed by the Stuttgart automobile manufacturer - in terms of safety, design, driving performance, comfort and sustainability:
· Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (W 194, 1952-1953) - the pioneer of all eight SL series, which was built as an edition of ten examples, solely as a racing sports car. It is the co-founder of the SL legend.
· Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupé (W 198 I, 1954-1957) - the first SL series with a space frame and a four-stroke engine with direct injection. As an important milestone of sports car building, it still creates a furore today.
· Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster (W 198 II, 1957-1963) - at TECHNO-CLASSICA, the Mercedes-Benz Museum presents a pre-series example from 1957.
· Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (W 113, 1963-1971) - it made automobile history with its innovatively shaped hard top - "Pagoda".
· Mercedes-Benz 500 SL (R 107, 1971-1989) - with a construction period of 18 years, it is the SL that was manufactured for the longest period. It can be seen as an unusual rally car at TECHNO-CLASSICA.
· Mercedes-Benz 500 SL (R 129, 1989-2001) - with many innovations, it stands for technical progress in automobile construction The Mercedes-Benz Museum presents a very special example: the 500 SL of Lady Di with right-hand drive.
· Mercedes-Benz SL 63 AMG (R 230, 2001-2012)) - the first SL with Vario roof. In 2008 and 2009, the roadster SL 63 AMG was used as Official F1™ Safety Car in the Formula 1. The Sl modified for the race track reminds us of the roots of the SL family in sports racing.
· Mercedes-Benz 350 SL (R 231, from 2012) - the first SL almost completely manufactured in aluminium. It can be seen at TECHNO-CLASSICA before its market launch in Europe on 31st March 2012. It builds the bridge between classic and modern times, since with its light-metal body, it picks up the first 300 SL, which in a special series of 29 examples had an aluminium body on top of the steel space frame. The new R 231 documents even more consistent light-metal construction: for this car, even the supporting structure is manufactured in aluminium.

With its size of 4,750 square metres, the Mercedes-Benz factory stand in exhibition hall 1 demonstrates the high significance Daimler AG places upon the automobile history as an ambassador of the credo "The best or nothing else", characterized by Gottlieb Daimler. In addition, the 17 German Mercedes-Benz clubs acknowledged and supported by Mercedes-Benz present themselves as special brand ambassadors. Also foreign Mercedes-Benz clubs will be represented as in the past two years.

Maintaining tradition also is the presentation of the three divisions of the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center - trade, workshop and spare parts supply with interesting exhibits. Also a good tradition of the Mercedes-Benz performance at TECHNO-CLASSICA: the classic partners Leseberg, Rosier and Weicker decorate the star area with interesting classic offers. The performance of Mercedes-Benz will be topped off with the presentation of a vast range of young classic cars with the star.