Look at this glorious old Mercedes-Benz SL

Fun fact: this R129-generation Mercedes-Benz SL wasn’t as successful as its predecessor, the R107. The latter sold 237,287 units over its 18-year lifespan, whereas this Eighties/Nineties icon only shifted 204,940 between 1989 and 2001.

Apart from Mercedes-Benz accountants, who else cares. It’s another home run for Bruno Sacco – the man who designed the 190 and your favourite S-Classes (W126/W140) – who continued his excellent run of aesthetic form for this generation of SL.

It was the first car to feature official AMG derivatives too. Not too long after the R129’s introduction, AMG was fully incorporated into the Mercedes mothership don't forget. So later in the R129's life we got the full bore SL55, SL60, and even an inordinately powerful, inordinately rare SL73. That car had 520-odd horsepower.

Not as rare as the V6-engined SL280, mind, of which just 1,704 models were built. Another fun fact to repel your friends with.

So, as the dust settles on the brand-new Mercedes-AMG SL, a chance to remember the model’s last high watermark.