16/09/2023
The Pagoda story!!!
1967 Mercedes-Benz 280 SL pagoda. Produced from 1967-1971 (23,885)
In the 1950s the Mercedes design department was made up of a motley Cerberus-esque crew comprised of Fredrich Geiger, a typically German, techy, test engineer, Karl Wilfert, the Mercedes born and bred head of car body development, and Bela Barenyi, an Austro-Hungarian, aristocratic, safety-obsessed, bohemian. When Paul Braq arrived from Paris having studied under the infamous and somewhat mad Phillipe Chabonneaux, he injected a French sense of elegance and style into the patent-heavy, technologically driven department. At the time, Mercedes was focused most on stability, but visibility was becoming a defining feature. The "Pagoda" roof, which took inspiration from the concavity of oriental shrines, was a way of adding rigidity to the boundary-pushing, light and airy glasshouse. Early sketches done by Geiger, ever the engineer and stereotypically German, show a general arrangement for a car, liner and symmetrical, with equal proportions and an austere interior. Braq by comparison, like most designers to this day, drew fanciful and exciting designs that were reined in by the strict discipline of the Mercedes-Benz studio.
The W113 (280 SL) was essentially a compromise between the two. Composed, symmetrical, with perfect lines and visual tension, its beauty lies in simplicity and refinement. The slender, feminine lines somehow manage to belie the strength and sturdiness of the car's construction without looking heavy, instead seeming sophisticated and agile. The balance continues on the interior which is neither excessively adorned or bare. They managed to get the perfect level of chrome in an era that was rife with overuse. The diversity of the design team fostered the balance and elegance that the car is so well known for. Nothing needs to be added or taken away; by creating something entirely functional, they managed to also make something perfectly beautiful.