Mercedes and McLaren have announced the final variant of their joint SLR project; it�s a speedster to go by the name of �Sterling Moss�. The SLR Sterling Moss will debut at the Detroit Motor show 2009 although it will never actually be sold in the US. Its influences are obviously the 300SLR that carried Moss to his epic victory in the Mille Miglia in record time.
The car is so different from any other luxury-end car on the road today; it has no windshield and no roof for a start which gives the car a very purist design. The car keeps the SLR�s swing-up door style also, further adding to the odd styling features we see in the pictures. Some striking features of the body are definitely the newly positioned horizontal exhausts and the deep air ducts on the wing and bonnet. The rear looks to have been completely re-designed from the standard car and looks a lot more streamlined and squat with the diffuser adding a bit more bulk.
Under the bonnet is the same Supercharged AMG V8 as found in the standard car attached to which is a 5 speed automatic box. It�s been tuned to give 650bhp, the same figure as the 722, however the weight losses will allow it to achieve a 0-62mph time of less than 3.5 seconds. Terminal speed will be in the region of 217mph and a limited production run of just 75 examples. It’ll cost �750,000 (�700,000).
There�s an airbrake that�s automatically available at high speed for braking, yet it can also be applied by the driver to �increase stability�. A bigger diffuser to produce maximum traction, the interior is a mixture of high-class authentic materials such as carbon fibre, aluminium and fine-quality leather and an aluminium plate carries the engraved signature of Stirling Moss near the shift lever reminding you of the cars provenance.
The car continues the recent Mercedes trend for producing insane cars, the Black Series SL and CLK being other notable examples. Production will start in June and end in December 2009 when we can expect the SLR (and the Mercedes � McLaren partnership) to end. Only the most loyal SLR customers will be allowed one though, presumably this means Mercedes or McLaren have to offer one to you so don�t expect to see one in a dealership. We look forward to seeing it at upcoming car shows.
Promo Video:
[youtube]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=whXYs1gUd9w[/youtube]
