It's the end of the run for the McLaren SLR Roadster, but Mercedes wants to give Yanks another shot at owning one. Beginning November 1, those of you who still have bank accounts can sign up for the auction of the final topless SLR to be sold in the U.S. You'd be right to assume the final edition of a limited run model would bring a huge premium when it goes on the block, as collectors have always put higher values on the first and last of most anything. But if you plan to take this particular knick-knack home, prepare to drain both savings accounts. Mercedes says the car will be the only SLR Roadster wearing Sienna Pearl metallic paint and Tobacco Brown leather. So when you show up to accept your Oscar, no one else will be driving the same one.
Certain cars encourage a response that is as routine and predictable as the reaction to a stoplight, and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 S Roadster is one of those cars. This is what happens every time someone gets in one, irrespective of their age, sex, or nationality: she snuggles into the seat, looks into the footwell to make sure her feet are placed just so on the pedals, slides her hands around the steering wheel for a couple of seconds to find just the right position, snuggles into the seat again... and then she just sits there, staring off into the distance. She might flip the paddles once or twice, or check out the center console. Then it's back to the thousand yard stare at the wall in front of her. She gets her picture taken, notices the line of people waiting to do the same thing, and it's all repeated again and again. And for good reason – the SLR McLaren 722 S Roadster is topless testosterone-topped terrificality. 650 horsepower from a supercharged 5.5L V8 and a convertible soft top that'll stay put above 208 mph deserves the attention.
As the era of the Mercedes McLaren SLR winds down to its conclusion sometime in 2009, Mercedes-Benz is releasing what may be the ultimate example of the breed. The SLR 722 S Roadster picks up where the 722 coupe left off dropping the 650-hp supercharged 5.5L V8 into the open top body shell. With a top speed of 220.6 mph, this may be the fastest open top production car ever built. And unlike the first generation Dodge Viper, Mercedes has devised a soft top that can withstand sustained 200 mph+ top speeds. Mercedes has tapped into McLaren's F1 experience to create the fully carbon-fiber body that can provide the structural integrity needed at those speeds. The semi-automatic top just needs to be unlatched from the windshield header manually before the rest of the process is handled by the electrical actuators. The vehicle dynamics are also aided by dropping the suspension by 10 mm at each end of the car and recalibrating the spring and damper rates. Only 150 examples of the 722 S Roadster will be made available starting Jan. 1 2009.
Following yesterday's revelation that Mercedes and McLaren were preparing to launch a special lightweight version of their SLR supercar, a batch of spy shots plus a spy video have surfaced, giving us a sneak peek at the limited-edition roadster prior to its anticipated unveiling by McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton towards the end of the month.
The images – which appear to have been released by the manufacturer itself – confirm our previous report that the roofless supercar will have little in the way of protection from the elements, with an F1-sized wind deflector screen as the only thing between the driver and the wind rushing by at breakneck speeds. Inspired by the original '50's-era 300 SLR, the new speedster will be faster than any previous SLR and be built in a small serial of 75 examples.
more ...
Mercedes and McLaren are preparing to head their own separate ways for the next batch of supercars – including the Mercedes SLC, SL65 AMG Black Series and McLaren P11 – but not before one last hurrah. Emerging reports from Germany indicate that the two companies, which are anticipated to continue collaboration on the race track, will soon unveil one last special edition of the SLR before the controversial supercar speeds off towards the horizon and into the setting sun.
The final iteration of the SLR is reported to be a lightweight speedster with neither roof nor windscreen, just a small deflector. Thanks in part to the removal of air conditioning and power windows (neither of which are needed when you don't have a roof anyway), curb weight has been trimmed by about 200 kilos (approximately 440 pounds), and promises to rip your head right off with a top speed of 350 km/h (217 mph), some 13 km/h over the previous top-dog SLR 722's maximum velocity. Only 75 examples will be produced, at a price of €450,000. Oh, and Lewis Hamilton is said to have something to do with the project, which is inspired by the legendary 1955 300 SLR Silver Arrows. Stay tuned for more details, with initial images reportedly due to surface tomorrow.
With the mostly unloved Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren set to get the official axe in 2009, the path is clear for the next McLaren-branded supercar to be unveiled. Expected to be built at its facility in Woking, England, McLaren has plans for the as-yet-unnamed vehicle to compete with Ferrari's incredible F430. Rumored to be powered by a 550-horsepower V8 engine featuring a basic design snagged from Mercedes and built by Mahle (that of the former Cosworth tuning fame), the power-to-weight ratio should handily outdo that of the Prancing Horse. Shortly after the new coupe codenamed P11 is unveiled, a convertible version is also expected.
True hardcore McLaren enthusiasts should mark 2012 as the year that McLaren returns to form with a proper replacement for its awe-inspiring F1 of a few years back. Powered by a lightweight version of the P11 architecture, this car codenamed the P12 is expected to be powered by a V10 engine with over 600 horsepower. The waiting list will likely start right... about... now.
Megayachts usually come with fancy tenders, so why not supercars, too? BRABUS has taken the idea and run with it, pairing one of its tuned McLaren SLR Roadsters with a matching runabout in the form of a smart fortwo-based ULTIMATE 112. The SLR is the beneficiary of the usual complement of upgrades, including a full body and trim kit (dig those carbon fiber replacement "gills"), a custom interior, and the requisite underhood tweaking, which bestows the roadster with 650 horsepower -- enough to make the Kessel run to 62 mph in 3.6 seconds, with a top end of 211 mph.
When its time to park the super-Merc and head into more constrained areas of the city, it's occupants can switch over to the car's ULTIMATE 112 "tender" which is finished and appointed to perfectly match its "mothership." In this case, that means the same white paint, deep red roof fabric, and right red leather interior -- right down to the waffle-patterned leather footwell trim. Of course, the little shuttlecraft gets a power bump as well, with 112 thundering horses prancing ponies under the wee bonnet. The cost of this matching set? A mere €699,000 gets the job done for owners of either an SLR or a Maybach, and it shows us that BRABUS is uniquely capable of finding new and innovative ways to separate the obscenely wealthy from large chunks of their money.
The German automakers keep on making more and more powerful sport-utes – some capable of pulling jumbo-jets and driving up buildings – with seemingly no end in sight. But for one owner, a stock Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG just wasn't enough to outperform his neighbor's Porsche Cayenne Turbo, so he had the engine swapped out for the 720-hp 5.5L supercharged V8 from the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. The result? 0-60 in 4.2 seconds in a package that's rivaled in its exotic-engined brutality only by the long-departed Countach-powered Lamborghini LM002.
Of course there's only one place on earth that such a unique creation could possibly call home: Abu Dhabi, the same über-wealthy gulf emirate where the obscenely wealthy built Ferrari theme parks and drive $1.4 million hyper-exotics with $14 million license plates. Where else?
