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The proud nameplate is back with a renewed focus, but is that focus what the SL is all about?

Some performers earn applause simply by appearing on stage—before speaking a single line, singing a single note, or dancing a single step. And there are cars that take over a road with sheer charisma. Most Duesenbergs and some Rolls-Royces. A lot of Ferraris. The Lamborghini Countach. And often, but not always, the Mercedes SL.

This story originally appeared in Volume 10 of Road & Track.

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It’s called presence, that ability to instantly grab attention, direct it, and control it. The challenge for the new 2022 Mercedes-AMG SL63 isn’t to be quick, fast, or even luxurious. It’s to establish itself and stake out its own relevance. To create its own reality, an alloy of engineering, elegance, and exclusivity. Some arrogance is okay. Some utility would be nice too. Being ignored? Not acceptable.

The temptation with every new SL is to drill down into its tech details, as if some demon tweak gizmo aboard guarantees reverence. But tech, even in the original 1954 production 300SL Gullwing coupe, was always in the service of presence.

“No exhibition-hall dream, the 300SL with its fabulous 240 hp fuel injection engine and dramatically functional body is here,” asserted an ad Mercedes ran for the Gullwing back in 1954.“Hand-finished details give the 300SL traditional Mercedes-Benz elegance—in a car that breaks with all traditions.” That sentence contradicts itself, yet nicely summarizes the Gullwing’s appeal. Incidentally, in the ad it’s wearing wide whitewalls and spinner hubcaps. Because it was 1954.

Because it’s 2022, the R232-generation SL63 hunkers over big 21-inch wheels inside 275/35tires in front and 305/30s in back. The body, a bit of a throwback to the Gullwing (and its roadster brother), has rounded shapes at every corner and a rump that droops down in back. From some angles, the tail even looks like a Porsche 911. Which is weird.

Weird because the engine isn’t back there. It’s AMG’s familiar 4.0-liter V-8 up front, with two turbochargers between the cylinder banks. In theSL63, the assembly is rated at 577 hp and a thick 590 lb-ft of consistent torque from 2500 to 4500rpm. It’s mated to AMG’s multi-clutch nine-speed automatic transmission and the also-familiar Mer-cedes 4Matic all-wheel-drive system. Back in 2010, Mercedes claimed that the 661-hp SL65 AMG BlackSeries, addled by mere rear-wheel drive, would slam to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds. Now it claims the new SL63 will rabbit to 60 in 3.5.

Here’s the problem: When it comes to mechanical engagement, acceleration is not the only thing that matters. The Gullwing had considerably less horsepower aboard, but the direct-injected 3.0-liter straight-six offered other delights. It sang a trilling song, practically flirted with the driver in its seductive delivery of power, and was equipped with a four-speed manual. The Gullwing wasn’t only the quickest car of its era but also the most engaging. It was unique among its few—very few—peers. And it was the most fun.

The new SL63, impressive as it is at generating numbers, doesn’t attract as much affection. It’ sone more German all-wheel-drive whoosh-macher powered by a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 . . . like many BMW M, Audi RS, and other Mercedes-AMG cars. And some of those aren’t even cars but SUVs. TheSL63 works great, it performs awesomely, and, damn it, it doesn’t feel that special.

And yes, this is the first SL with all-wheel drive. And it’s all-wheel drive only; Mercedes-AMG says it is not considering a rear-drive version.

With that in mind, it’s not like all the previous SL generations have been dripping with mechanical personality. There was nothing enchanting about the 1955 190SL’s 105-hp 1.9-liter four. And no matter that it was staggeringly beautiful, the Pagoda-roof 1968–71 W113 280SL had a 2.8-liter straight-six that purred but made only 180 hp. An SL can have many compensating virtues. And this new one has those, at least some.

The new SL is the first to come only as a 2+2 (a tiny rear seat was optional in some markets onR107-generation SLs introduced for 1972). For at least a few repeat SL buyers, the complex power-retractable hardtop that’s been part of the car’s substance since the R230 model of 2002 has been a frustration—not only because it limited trunk room, but it also meant there was no rear parcel area in which to casually toss a Balenciaga Motorcycle handbag or let a pair of pure-white Samoyeds roost. The two rear seats in the new SL have belts that imply human beings could sit in them, but there’s no room for actual human lower appendages. High-end leather goods and designer dogs, however, will fill the space just fine.

This also means that the soft fabric top has returned to the SL franchise. It is, as expected, a multilayer assembly that will not only keep out the weather but also resist meteor strikes. However, there is no bolt-on hardtop option. That must come as some relief to Mercedes dealers who, as a courtesy, are still storing customer hardtops for R107s from half a century ago.

The interior isn’t so much designed as it is over-stuffed. That starts with the massive 12.3-inch center screen tasked with controlling everything short of Harvard undergraduate admissions. Separated from the dash, the screen can be tilted to remain usable even in sunlight. But that separation also leaves it looking like an afterthought.

The interior has all the latest gadgets. The AMG Performance seats with “multi contour” adjustability can be tailored to fit any biped primate. All the screens display vivid images. What’s missing, however, is a physical connection to what’s going on. Even the very comfort of the seats insulates the SL63’s occupants from the physical sensations of driving.

There’s been an evolution in the definition of “luxury” over time. Look at the old 300SL roadster or the W113 280SL, and there are painted metal surfaces, decorative metallic pieces, and what seem to be Bakelite knobs. That gave way to leather and wood on every surface. Now it’s carbon fiber and gadgetry. At the risk of devolving into Abraham Simpson–style old-man nuttery, some of that classic stuff was better. Looking at screens isn’t the same as feeling a transmission shudder in anticipation under its shifter. When the paint is perfect, painted metal is luxurious.

The structure of the new SL is a fresh piece of engineering from AMG. It uses large aluminum castings fore and aft to support the engine cradle and suspension, with long aluminum extrusions along the length of the car to underpin the cockpit. It’s obviously adaptable to accepting a hybrid drivetrain and being further tweaked to go all electric. The front suspension is, for example, an exceptionally compact, five-link design that puts almost all its substance within those big front wheels. So most of the engine bay is open to whatever AMG decides is the right thing to put there. In a very real way, the most elegant thing about the new SL63 is the engineering of the structure.

And it does work well. The steering is muted by the all-wheel-drive effort going on, but the SL63 bites into turns as if it were consuming the pavement. Throw in some rear-steering magic (up to 2.5 degrees of it at speed), and the car is more nimble than its long 106.3-inch wheelbase implies. That’s close to a full foot longer than the wheelbase of either the original 300SL or the 280SL.

Drawing heavily on Mercedes’s successful W194 racer, the glorious 300Sl debuted in February 1954 to serve as a halo product. like the W194, the roadgoing 300Sl featured a tube-frame chassis, windswept bodywork, and gullwing doors. A fuel-injected 240-hp 3.0-liter inline-six, resting at a 50-degree angle, allowed the Sl to reach speeds in excess of 160 mph. Underpinned by a conventional chassis, the 190Sl joined the lineup in 1955, and the 300Sl roadster replaced the Gullwing in 1957.

The 230Sl arrived at the 1963 Geneva Auto Show riding on a version of the W111 sedan’s chassis and wearing elegant bodywork by legendary designer Paul Bracq. The removable hardtop’s striking look earned the car the nickname “Pagoda.” Its 2.3-liter inline-six engine came from the W111 parts bin, with output rising to 150 hp. The more potent 250SL appeared in 1967 and wouldn’t last more than a year before the 280SL debuted, bringing a 170-hp 2.8-liter inline-six and upgraded brakes.

The heavy, softly sprung R107 Sl took the model even further from its racing roots. Still, in 1971, the R107 became the first V-8-powered Sl. The lineup grew to include the big-engined 560 version, but thanks to the era’s emissions equipment, it produced only 227 hp. Over the course of the 18-year production run, Mercedes sold 237,287 R107s, including a small number of dedicated coupe models called SLC.

The R129 Sl arrived in 1989 with a more wedgelike, angular shape from designer Bruno Sacco. In North America, it offered three engine options: a 3.0-liter inline-six (300Sl), a 5.0-liter V-8 (500Sl), and, beginning in 1993, a 6.0-liter V-12 (600Sl). In 1995, AMG, still an independent tuner, made its most outrageous Sl-based creation, the 525-hp Sl73, using the 7.3-liter V-12 that would go on to power the Pagani Zonda. only 85 Sl73s were built,50 of which allegedly went to the Sultan of Brunei.

For 2002, the new R230 offered the model line’s first power-retractable hardtop. The car was much sleeker than the R129, with visual references to the original 300Sl. Mercedes offered high-performance variants through AMG, which it had recently brought in-house. The Sl55 AMG, the Sl63 AMG, the Sl65 AMG, and the range-topping 670-hp Sl65 AMG Black Series attempted to restore some of the lost sporting pedigree. The AMG models accounted for almost a third of R230 sales.

To celebrate the model’s 60th anniversary, the R231 debuted at the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The R231 became the first volume-produced Mercedes to feature an all-aluminum body shell. The new car weighed roughly 300 pounds less than its predecessor while offering a more rigid chassis. A refreshed body style arrived in 2017, and so did the R231’s in-house rival, the Mercedes-AMG GT roadster. Future versions of the Sl and GT will share a platform. -Lucas Bell

The SL has also been at war with itself. It’s a supercar at some times and a luxury car at others. Some generations have been the sort of car that looks good on a racetrack, others perfect for a clandestine rendezvous with the club tennis pro.

It seems right for the SL now to be an AMG product. After all, the Panamericana grille used on AMGs originated with the W194 300SL race car that won the 1952 Carrera Panamericana. The AMG brand is built around the SL genome.

Still, while this new SL surely generates big numbers and presents itself as not quite like any other roadster, maybe it just can’t stake out an indelible place in the greater car culture. The attitude and ability that established the SL’s presence isn’t gone, but it’s been spread thin across all those sedans, SUVs, off-roaders, squashy-roof thingies, and hard-core supercars that wear the AMG name. The SL made the world a place where AMG could flourish. But, ironically, that world may not have much room for the SL.

Oh, and one more thing: There’s also a new Mercedes-AMG SL55 that gets 469 hp from its 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8. That is, if anyone cares.