In October 1971, the coupé version of the R 107, which had appeared six months earlier, was presented at the Paris Motor Show. The wheelbase was lengthened by 36 cm so that the new bolide could be regarded as a fully-fledged coupé. With regard to participation in racing events, the car was already optimized in production in 1978 in terms of aerodynamics and weight. The bolide was called 450 SLC 5.0 and only 1,615 were produced. The weight saving of over 100 kilograms was achieved by making the doors, bonnet, trunk lid and engine block from aluminium. The drag coefficient of the SLC fell by more than 10%, not least thanks to the front spoiler.

The 450 SLC 5.0 made its first rally appearance in 1978 at the South America Rally and achieved an incredible fivefold victory. The following year saw further successes when four vehicles started in the Bandama Rally on the Ivory Coast. 5,600 kilometers of route, of which only 10% is paved road and 90% is steppe, rainforest, savannah and river courses. Of the 62 vehicles that started, only nine cars crossed the finish line. Among them were all four SLCs in places one to four - a glorious victory for Mercedes.

In 1980, the rally legend 450 SLC 5.0 was replaced by the 500 SLC model – also in an edition that served as a racing car. The 500 SLC was only built for a year and only 1,154 vehicles left the factory. About 20% of them were converted into racing cars - directly from the factory or by Mercedes customers.

The Mercedes-Benz 500 SLC accelerated a little more powerfully thanks to the new, shorter-ratio 4-speed gearbox that it received as a donation from the S-Class, the W126. The 500 SLC managed the sprint to 100 km/h in 7.8 seconds – 0.7 seconds faster than its predecessor. The interior has been beefed up a bit and visually there were hardly any changes compared to the 450 SLC 5.0.

The 500 SLC was also active in rallying and celebrated a double victory a year after the quadruple victory of the 450 SLC 5.0 in the Bandama Rally. As spectacular as the vehicles and the victories were, for Mercedes-Benz this race was the crowning farewell to rallying.

Fun fact: the two 500 SLCs that took the first two places were mostly production cars. Even the automatic transmission was taken over from the series - albeit with a slightly shorter translation. The original engine produced 304 hp instead of the standard 240 hp, the tank was enlarged slightly, the underside was supplemented with a fiberglass underguard and the additional headlights customary in the rally provided more light in the dark. So it's no wonder that many customers have converted their 500 SLC into a rally car.

The 500 SLC offered here has neither been modified nor has it ever seen a gravel road. The transmission shifts smoothly through the gears and the 5-liter unit purrs like a wild cat. If you want to do without some rubber, you can easily bring a burnout to the asphalt in this rare rally legend. The machine has been extensively serviced and everything works perfectly. The paint has age-appropriate traces that can be seen on closer inspection. All fluids were replaced and MFK done.

The currently mounted 17 inch AMG replica rims are registered. In addition to all the original documents, there are also the original rims including new tires and a brand new muffler.

More classics and their stories at:
www.lucianos-classics.ch

Translated by Google - please excuse any grammatical errors :)

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