Mercedes Benz puts an end to production of the R230 Series SL-Class, in preparation for the arrival of the 2013 Mercedes SL.

As one of the world’s most iconic sport luxury cars, Mercedes SL has always been a very important car for the German auto maker.

The car always offered such a nice blend of style, speed and luxury that made it an instant winner. And this generation of SL with its superb retractable hard-top set many new trends in this segment. In its lifetime on the market it was offered as SL350, SL500, SL600, SL55 AMG, SL63 AMG, SL65 AMG and SL65 Black Series. The car had one of the coolest body designs ever in Mercedes history.

The last unit sporting number 169,434 is a SL 350 finished in Iridium Silver. It recently rolled off the line at Bremen plant, on its way to Mercedes museum in Stuttgart.

So that’s it for the R230 SL. For the next generation Mercedes is going back to basics. Well, sort of. They said they want the new car to be more of a sports car, lighter and nimbler, and for that they invented new production methods to make a very efficient aluminum body for it. Sure the car is going to be better than the one it replaces in almost all of the technical aspects, but what about the looks?

The new SL is apparently inspired heavily by the SLS supercar, which means it gets a more retro look. Based on what we’ve seen so far of the 2013 SL, it looks like a SLK on steroids.