They have got to be kidding. Another SLR derivative? Before the Mercedes-McLaren supercar speeds off into the horizon, it will have spawned no less than six different versions - including the original coupe, the Roadster, 722, 722 GT, the upcoming "Speedster", and this latest variant - if the latest reports are to be believed. We would have thought that the spied Speedster version would have been the last, but then spy shots surface of what appears to be a 722 Roadster.This undisguised vehicle carries all the visual cues of the 722 edition coupe: the dark grey 19" forged alloys hiding red brake calipers over oversized discs, plus the carbon fiber lip spoiler and darkened taillight clusters. The convertible can be expected to carry the same 650-hp supercharged V8 as the 722 coupe, only with the nifty hard-soft top from the roadster. By the state of readiness evident from these spy shots, we'd venture that the 722 Roadster will appear before the Speedster. And we trust that will be the end of the SLR... until someone says otherwise, of course.
With a host of new exotics coming out from both Mercedes-Benz and its F1 and erstwhile supercar partner McLaren, the ageing Mercedes SLR McLaren is about to be shown the back door. But not before one last hoorah. And if this illustration is any indication, it will be one rip-roaring, ear-piercing hoorah indeed.
Based on the spy shots that have already surfaced of the SLR McLaren "Speedster" (we don't know if that's what it'll be called officially, but that's the name we've been tossing around), talented illustrator Jon Sibal has crafted the rendering you see above. According to Sibal, the headlights will be the only element of the exterior carried over from previous incarnations of the SLR to the new, more hardcore roofless swan-song. The hood, which previously melded into the A-pillars, is more flat; the nose draws even more direct inspiration from McLaren-Mercedes formula racing cars; the exhaust pipes have been moved into the side vents... oh yeah, and there's no roof. None whatsoever. There's barely any windshield for that matter, just a couple of deflectors. Needless to say, we hope the actual vehicle turns out to be as dramatic as Sibal's conception.
It's been a long, drawn-out goodbye for the lackluster Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. The last of the original coupes rolled smoothly off the production line at the end of last year, and the subsequent SLR Roadster is set to follow in 2009.
The SLR drew criticism from the start as a wishy-washy compromise of a supercar with an automatic transmission, better suited towards boulevard cruising – of which it was capable in the grandest style – than white-knuckle driving. The future is looking brighter, however, as a whole array of mouth-watering supercars is popping up in the SLR's place. We brought you news yesterday that the SLR's supercharged V8 engine could find its way into the next Pagani. Before that we brought you spy shots of the upcoming SL65 AMG Black Series, whose performance promises to eclipse the SLR's at a fraction of the price. Mercedes is also preparing an even more extreme SLC with potentially even more blistering performance. McLaren, meanwhile, unhappy with the compromises forced upon it by Mercedes over the SLR project, is going its own way with the P11 project. With this cache of supercars coming down the road, we think it'll be rather hard to miss the SLR at all. Don't you?
