Corvette vs Mercedes SL: Longest-running rivalry in sports cars. Say what?

Forget Ford versus Holden or Ford versus Ferrari. Or even Ferrari versus Lamborghini.

The real rivalry, the one true stoush between competing brands has always been between Chevrolet and Mercedes-Benz.

Say what?

Yep, while the rivalry between the American giant and the German luxury carmaker might not grab the headlines in the same way as Australia’s own Ford versus Holden war once did, the fight between the two is steeped in history dating back to 1952. Or ’53, or even 1954, depending on who you believe.

At the heart of the argument lies the question, “Which came first? The Corvette or the Mercedes-Benz SL?”

While it might seem flippant, the debate centres on which of those two models holds the title of “longest-running sports car nameplate”. There's a lot at stake, and both sides lay claim to the title.

Let’s look at both sides of the argument.

In the red corner, Chevrolet stakes its claim on the Corvette and the year 1953. That’s when the first hand-built Corvette C1 rolled out of GM’s Flint plant in Michigan.

Hand-built you say? Yep, the first 300 or so C1 Corvettes were assembled by hand while GM forged ahead retooling and preparing a factory for the following year’s full-scale production run.

In the silver corner, the first Mercedes-Benz SL appeared in 1954 just as GM was ramping up production of ‘America’s sports car’.

The brainchild of Merc’s US distributor Max Hoffman, who suggested to the board in Stuttgart that a road-going version of the company’s W194 race car would sell like hotcakes in affluent America, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL and its signature ‘gullwing’ doors is today regarded as one of the most revered cars in history.

Since then, both iconic sports cars have remained in continuous production, the Corvette through eight generations and the Mercedes-Benz SL through seven. Interestingly, both nameplates took a 12-month model year break, Corvette in 1983 and Merc SL in 2021.

But there are some muddied waters when working out which brand can claim the mantle of ‘longest running sports car nameplate’.

Mercedes-Benz is staking its claim on the fact that while the first road-going production SL appeared in 1954, some months after 300 hand-built ’Vettes exited the Flint factory, it was based on the company’s W194 race car of which just 10 were produced between 1952 and 1955.

As far as genealogy goes, the Mercedes-Benz SL trumps the Corvette by a year.

But GM’s decision to rush out those 300 or so hand-built ’Vettes in the dying months of 1953 gives it an edge in the calendar.

So who gets the nod? We’d be inclined to call it a tie. Either way, both nameplates have endured for 70 years and have, over the decades, become part of the automotive pantheon of greatness.

So what do you think? Should Corvette wear the badge of honour, or does it belong to the Mercedes-Benz SL? Let us know in the comments below.