Now worth more than half a million
Yesterday we saw the new Mercedes-AMG GT, twenty years ago we became acquainted with the SLR McLaren, which, with its controversial appearance, gull-wing doors and involvement of racing stable McLaren, has entered the books as one of the most advanced German horsepower executioners. We look back at an extremist who left our world in a very idiosyncratic package.
It all started in 1999, when Mercedes-Benz unveiled the Vision SLR in Detroit. A special case, the collaboration with McLaren was announced, but otherwise we learned very little about it.
Twenty years ago, a package suddenly fell on the mat containing the first material of the final production model. His appearance remained almost unchanged, although we had to guess how the Vision’s impressive buttocks would dry up. ‘Terribly annoying,’ we cried aloud. However, the end result would not disappoint…
Man, were we impressed by this high-quality piece of technology when we got behind the wheel six months later. The alien-looking SLR had a hangman V8 under the hood, which had its origins in the E and S500. AMG had worked hard on it, sending no less than 626 hp and 780 Nm to the rear wheels. A V12 or V10, as in the Enzo, Murciélago and Carrera GT, remained strange to him, unfortunately it did not fit. That didn’t stop the SLR from enthusiastically showing you every corner of the room. So pay attention, while the sound caused a dangerous amount of distraction. ‘At a temperature of 32 degrees it still gives you chills,’ we wrote humbly.
Anyone who had saved €614,000 somewhere in 2003 could reward himself with an almost perfect tyrant. But those who really wanted something special could get the 722 Edition as a gift in 2007. With 650 hp, 820 Nm, a lowered chassis and an overall fitness cure, this monster really scared us. The trained beast was a tribute to Stirling Moss, who won the 1955 Mille Miglia with the number 722 on his car. Extremely desirable, with 3.6 seconds to 100 km / h bizarrely fast and with its price tag of €622,000 unfortunately also bizarre at the price.
In the same year we put the roofless SLR Roadster through its paces. A two-seater sun god with up-hinged doors, could it get any crazier? With the wind in our hair we tried to stay alive in the car that ‘Satan would move in if he had a driver’s license’. On the winding mountain roads, the German turned out to be a true killer. The thump that the V8 gave you in the back was whirlwind, but therefore also very nice. You just had to look past the price tag of €679,890, by the time we drove it, the monster had long been sold out.
Everything comes to an end, including the short but intense life of the Sport Leight Rennsport. In 2009 the curtain fell on the regular version, we said goodbye in the frenzied Stirling Moss. ‘The screaming final chord of a tearing metal symphony’, we labeled this flattened and windowless chunk of violence. Yep, no windshield on the Stirling Moss. And that while the SLR costing 1.2 million could reach a top speed of 350 km / h. ‘Brutal, unrestrained, rude and above all completely pointless’, is how we described the goodbye model. A great farewell to a rigorous supercar, which was succeeded in 2011 by the slightly better but also technically advanced SLS AMG.
That an SLR McLaren is really something special is evident from the prices for which they are now for sale. We see them as used cars from €525,000 to €595,000.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl