The racing W194 was a project led by Rudolf Uhlenhaut to get Mercedes-Benz back into racing after the War. The 'Sport Leicht' concept was invented to get Mercedes-Benz back into Motor Racing with a cheaper product than Formula One. The W194 300SL won the 1952 Le Mans 24 hour race, Nurburgring, and the Mexican Carrera Panamericana. American importer Max Hoffman implored Mercedes-Benz to produce a road-going version, and this was exhibited at the 1954 New York Show as the 300 SL (W198). At the 1957 Geneva Salon the open 300 SL roadster was introduced mechanically based on the gullwing but with a revised chassis and conventional doors for the roadster body. The next generation of the SL came in 1955 with the cheaper R191/W191 190SL which used an 1897cc 4-cylinder engine and gave sales of 25,881 until it was replaced in 1963. The famous 'Pagoda' 230 SL (and later 250 SL and 280 SL) took over the SL place in the Mercedes catalogue from 1963 replacing both the 300 SL roadster and the 190 SL. Famous for the concave roof to its hardtop the W113 SL was even less 'light' and even less 'sporting' than the 190 SL and actually had added strength for safety. After almost 49,000 had been sold it was replaced by the 350 SL (R107) and 500 SLC (C107) in 1971. The 'lightness' lost even more meaning as the new SL added a further 200kilos, and the 4-seater SLC was even heavier. The SL ran until 1989, but the SLC was replaced in 1981.