The 300SL Roadster was the open top variant of the Mercedes-Benz 300SL. Introduced in 1957, the roadster was the successor to the famous 300SL Gullwing and was created to appeal to the Californian market. These cars featured two traditional passenger doors and a folding cloth roof. The 300 SL Roadster featured the high compression version of Mercedes' M198 engine. This 3.0L inline six generated 240hp, which was sent to drive the rear wheels through a 4 speed manual transmission. The Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster ended production in 1963, with a total of 1,858 examples built.