If I could have any car it would be a Mercedes-Benz Pagoda circa 1965. It isn’t the most expensive car in the world but it remains one of the most stylish of all time – and I’m absolutely in love with it. Just looking at it transports me to another place… down steep, twisting roads high above Monte Carlo, or weaving between maniacs around the Arc de Triomphe. Romantic and never mundane, the Pagoda is pure, engineered glamour for both men and women and – above all – is incredibly fun.
Tessa Ferguson, Residential Land’s Head of Interior Design.
‘Pagoda’ is the informal name given to the Mercedes W113 two seat roadster (or, in some iterations, coupé), so called because of the decidedly quirky, slightly concave roof on hardtop models.
More than that, the nickname evoked the exoticism of the Far East at a time when Europe was at the tail end of the extreme 1962-1963 winter – one of the coldest ever recorded. The mischievous Pagoda seemed to promise carefree, sunny adventures – particularly those with an optimistically detachable roof.
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Mercedes-Benz W113 250SL (1967)
But there is meticulous, serious attention to detail in the design of this impishly appealing vehicle. Co-designed by the “father of passive safety in automobiles” Béla Barényi, the Pagoda was the first sports car to implement concepts from the man who invented crumple zones, rigid passenger cells and collapsible steering columns. (As it happens, Barényi is also credited for the initial sketches that formed the basis of another design classic: the Volkswagen Beetle.)
The Pagoda has stood the test of time, its easy style guaranteeing regular appearances on screen almost from the moment it was made – in everything from Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney’s 1967 road trip romantic comedyTwo for the Road to the elegant 2011 spy thriller Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
Nearly 55 years later, the Mercedes-Benz W113 remains a triumph of aesthetics and engineering, as desirable today as when it first rolled off the production line.
