Mercedes-Benz 300 SLS and SLR Stirling Moss: specs and history compared

Mercedes-Benz Classic put the 1957 300 SLS and the 2009 SLR Stirling Moss side by side — 235 hp against 650 hp, 52 years apart, same obsessive idea.

Author: Daria Kashirina

18:21 16-08-2026

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Between the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLS and the SLR McLaren Stirling Moss lie 52 years and a chasm of technology — 235 hp versus 650 hp. Yet the idea behind both cars is nearly identical. Each was born from a radical stripping away of anything unnecessary, and a Motor1 journalist got the rare chance to drive both at the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center.

The 1957 300 SLS can hardly be called an ordinary production roadster. Mercedes built just two of these cars for American racing, turning the 300 SL Roadster into a far harder-edged sporting tool. An aluminum body, deleted bumpers, lightened components, side exhaust and a tiny windscreen helped bring the weight down to 1,040 kg — 290 kg lighter than the standard roadster.

The three-liter inline six made 235 hp. And the results were anything but a museum piece: Paul O’Shea won the 1957 American sports car championship in Class D driving the 300 SLS. Across 16 championship races, the car took five wins and never once retired with an engine failure.

The SLR Stirling Moss echoed that same philosophy in the carbon-fiber era. The final version of the SLR family arrived in 2009, limited to just 75 units — with no roof, no side windows and not even a conventional windscreen. Its supercharged 5.4-liter V8 produced 650 hp and 820 Nm of torque, launching the speedster to 100 km/h in under 3.5 seconds and on to a top speed of 350 km/h.

The Stirling Moss name is no coincidence, either. It honors Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson’s win at the 1955 Mille Miglia, when their Mercedes 300 SLR completed the race at an average speed of 157.6 km/h — a course record that still stands. It draws an unusual line spanning half a century.

In 1957, Mercedes deleted bumpers and fitted aluminum parts to shave off tens of kilograms. By 2009, it was using a carbon monocoque and leaving a 650-hp car with almost no shielding from the oncoming air. The technology changed; the drive to strip away everything between driver and speed did not.