The designation "SL" derives from the German term "Sport-Leicht", which translates to "Sport Light" in English.

Initially, the first 300 SL was a racing sports car built in 1952 with no intention of developing a street version.

The German magazine, Auto Motor und Sport, declared in its 2012 special edition issue of Mercedes-Benz SL that Rudolf Uhlenhaut—in his notarised letter—indicated the abbreviation meant Super Leicht.

[2] On 15 March 2021, Auto Motor und Sport published a photocopy of an undated "Informations-Unterlage" (press release) from 1952 in its issue, showing the definition of SL as super-leicht.

[4][5] According to the German definition, Leicht means light (as in weight, amount, and feeling, for instance) or easy (as in little effort).

The W113 featured a low waistline, large curved greenhouse windows, detachtable hardtop, and a new 2.3-litre straight-six engine.

The changes were made to the interior with new dashboard padding, switches and knobs, steering wheel, and door pockets (US model only).

In 1971, R107 was introduced with new design language and safety features that spread to the subsequent Mercedes-Benz models.

The R129 was introduced in 1989 as a two-passenger convertible with a removable hardtop — the first Mercedes to feature a fully automatic, hydraulically-operated fabric convertible top; V8 and (later) V12 engines with four valves per cylinder; projector lens HID headlamps (introduced in 1995); and an automatic rollbar, which self-deployed in a rollover event.

The retractable rollbar could also be raised or lowered manually using a switch on the console, and facilitated occupant safety without compromising aesthetics.

The fifth-generation SL-Class featured a 'Vario Roof' retractable hardtop, as introduced on the 1996 SLK Class: Active Body Control (ABC) active suspension system, Keyless Go keyless entry and smart key, and Sensotronic Brake Control (SBC) electro-hydraulic power brake system.

The SBC proved troublesome, and was later disabled by Mercedes-Benz in a large recall campaign due to the difficulties in modulating the brake effort.

A high-performance version of R230, SL 65 AMG Black Series, was offered as a coupe only body type.

The R231 introduced aluminum bodywork, its weight advantage offset by higher safety and convenience equipment.

Additionally, standard equipment included an adaptive windscreen wipe/wash system which supplied fluid from the wiper blade itself, as needed and depending on the direction of wipe.

While R107 was built to be two-seater convertible, the owners could opt for the 2+2 seating configuration when ordering their R107 or for the retrofit kit to be installed in their R107 at later date.

The instrument cluster is placed within a binnacle as to reduce the reflections from the sunlight and improve the legibility when the roof is folded down.