Mercedes 500 under the name "easy comfort" appeared on the roads of Germany, and then of the whole of Europe in 1951. The car was produced in two versions, a sedan and a cabriolet. In the variant of the sedan Mercedes 500 was assembled from 1951 to 1954, and the cabriolet was produced from 1951 to 1955. Then the car began to be produced in a sporty lightweight format under the Mercedes-Benz CL name with a powerful six-cylinder engine running on gasoline with a high octane rating. The coupe-type body was notable for its compactness, which, however, did not reduce the level of comfort in the cabin. The machine was successfully manufactured until 1971 in the main format and in several additional modifications.
After the wheelbase Mercedes 500 was significantly increased, it became possible to weight the car, making it closer to the representative class. The need for this decision was dictated by the increased demand for large cars with a sporting character. Two new models appeared at once, SLC 350 and SLC 450, both cars with eight-cylinder V-type engines. In mid-1974, these two cars were joined by a light-weight SLC 280 with a six-cylinder in-line engine, and in 1978 the SLC 450-5 stood in line with the semi-sporting predecessors and was immediately renamed the SLC 500. However, in the fall of 1980, Four models were discontinued.
The success of the SLC 500 was more than modest. Fuel crisis of the seventies did not allow the development of sports and semi-sports cars. The active competition of the E-class cars, in particular, the Mercedes C-123, was affected . The roadsters were on their heels, and in such a difficult situation, the release of Mercedes 500 resumed to finally close in 1989. However, the story did not end there, although the pause lasted almost ten years. In the spring of 1999, Mercedes 500 appeared and was announced as an independent representative of the new CL-class. According to its external data, this Mercedes approached the role of the flagship in the hierarchy of coupe models.
Further development of Mercedes 500 was marked by the appearance under the hood of a new V8 CL63 AMG engine with a power of 420 hp, and a little later, in 2004, a V12 CL65 AMG with a capacity of 610 hp was installed on the car. Super-power power plants did not solve the main task, sales of Mercedes 500 kept low due to high costs. And in 2006 the production of the car was once again suspended. At the approach was already a new CL-class, and in October 2006 this car was introduced to the general public. The production group refused the V12 CL65 AMG heavy-duty engine, and the new engine matched the parameters of the V8 CL63 AMG and was significantly less powerful.
In 2010, the updated Mercedes 500, whose photo you can see in the article, went through an additional deep restyling, which resulted in the car getting completely new bumpers, a more elaborate radiator grille, LED headlights were inserted lighting the optics with purple rays, the rear lights became more academic , With a dominant red color. The reversing lamps changed their location, they moved from the bottom of the rear bumper into the niches along the edges of the license plate. Currently, the car is produced in small series and is still quite expensive. However, some models Mercedes 500, the price of which previously held at a high level, today cost between 22,000 - 35,000 dollars.