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c107 Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC from When the new touring sports car of the R 107 series was presented in April 1971, the issue of whether a new large Coupé should be developed at Mercedes-Benz still remained unanswered. The discussion centered on whether one should add, and in the near future, design a four-seater sports coupé based on the R 107 series, or wait for the coming S-Class (116 series) to build it on that basis. But in that case, a production model would not have arrived until much later, in the mid-1970s. Karl Wilfert, then the head of Body Design in Sindelfingen, developed – pretty much on his own authority – a Coupé based on the R 107 and presented it one day to the Board of Management as a “rough draft”. Rejected at first, Wilfert managed to push through his idea of a sports Coupé with the tenacity which was so characteristic of him. And so six months after its premiere the SL Roadster was followed in October
