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With most roadsters, the removable hard top is at best an afterthought. For the 1963-1971 Mercedes-Benz SL, however, no aspect of the design was an afterthought -- and certainly not the hard top. The delicately shaped roof, which appears to dip down toward the center and which features tapered C-pillars, gives the "Pagoda" SLs their nickname. This generation of SL is credited to Frenchman Paul Bracq, who headed the advanced-design studios at Daimler-Benz from 1957 to 1967, and is arguably the last really beautiful Mercedes-Benz roadster.