Overclocker

WOKING, England — Mercedes-Benz wants to give its slow-selling SLR supercar a boost by launching spin-off versions of the British-built sports car, including a convertible roadster version.

The SLR is made by Mercedes' Formula One partner McLaren; and British magazine What Car? quotes DaimlerChrysler chairman Dieter Zetsche as saying the partners are investigating small production runs of the SLR with different body styles.

"We could do 50 to 100 cars with certain attributes," he said, suggesting that a roadster version would be the obvious next step. A roadster version was shown back in 1999, when the original Vision SLR concept was first unveiled.

The V8-engined SLR is priced at $450,000, and a soft top would probably be even more expensive. The SLR is powered by a 626-hp engine, giving it a top speed of 208 mph and 0-60 mph in just 3.8 seconds.

But the car hasn't been the success Mercedes had hoped it would be, and it's likely to be replaced in the next few years by a McLaren-badged supercar — a successor to the legendary McLaren F1 supercar of the 1990s that would compete with the likes of the Ferrari F430.

What this means to you: Put the Sawzall down and back away from the SLR. Mercedes will be building a roadster version for you shortly.

Source: http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...cleId=109600#2

Richie

I wonder if this will seriously boost sales

GFerg

I remember the concept version that had. That was sexy as hell. I think they should go ahead with it.

Slow selling huh....I guess people dont like 450K MB's and Maybachs.

rai

IMO it's a great car at a too high price. You'd figure it's a tough sell. The F430 or even the F599 will cost a lot less for similar performance. I know it may not matter to some, but for others it may be too dear.

If they priced it similar to a Gallardo or Ford GT or F430 we'd see. But price it 2x the price, that's real coin.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

same here, i really don't think a roadster will help....

just ask this question. given the slr at 450k, and the sl65 at 180k, which one would you buy? i hate to say, but i would probably stick with the sl65, and add some renntech stuff to it for 20k. at 200k, i got a car that can go head to head, if not faster, than the slr, and still with a whopping 200k in my pocket.

and btw, the next mclaren to go with the likes of f430?! i think they need to put the enzo next to it if they wanna compete?

GFerg

WERD....and it looks better to.

TheRupp

I thought they stopped making the SLR when McLaren and Mercedes split?

And to be honest, it looks like a facelifted SL. The automotivally undereducated probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two. You'd probably be best off just getting an SL65 anyway and saving $250,000.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

yup, decided to take the "style" thing out of my analysis to make it more objective. but so true, the sl looks so much better in my book

Ice350

iTrader: (1)

The early concepts did not have those side gills. That killed it for me. To bad I didn't have the 450G's anyway.
I agree with others. Looks too similar to the sl but not much better performance for the money. Instead of building a convert, try lowering the price. What a novel idea.

UDel

It is a nice car with a high performance motor but it is way overpriced. Especially when you consider that you can get a SL65 for around 180K which has a twin turbo v-12. I would rather have the turbo v-12 if I was in the market and save a couple hundred thousand. For 450K it really should sell under the Maybach or even McLaren brand. Even for Mercedes 450K is a hell of alot of money and the brand may not be looked at high enough to sell cars in that price range. I think only a select few companies can successfully sell the amount of cars they want to in that price range like Ferrari, Rolls Royce, Bugatti, Lamborgini, McLaren,Aston Martin, and possibly Porsche. Even coming from those companies cars in that price range are not going to sell in any kind of numbers no matter how good they are.

I am not a big fan of the interior either as it does not look that special or appealing. The concept cars interior looked nicer and more expensive where the production SLRs looks like it could have come from a SLK or other lower priced model. From what I read it is not that roomy or comfortable for a car that is supposed to have given up some handling qualities to be a better touring GT car. If it was a little lighter, focused more on handling, and cost around 190-195K I think it would sell much better. Jay Leno got one and he loves it and he is a big fan of the McLaren F1 as well as owning one and Gordan Murray.

Ice350

iTrader: (1)

Geez, what doesn't Jay Leno own. What a car guy. How much do they pay him for hosting the Tonight Show?

I saw a thread once where this guy built an exact copy of the SLR in his garage. It looked darn good too. Anyone have that thread saved or know where to find it? It was pretty cool. It had pics of the process from start to finish. I believe the donor car was an old eclass...the 300e.

Here's a link to a thread of that conversion. I thought it was a cheaper option but the guy wants 500K for the car. I'm sure he still has it. That's way too much. It was a lot of labor though.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=848531&page=1

RX_330

That looks pretty good.

But I agree about rather getting an SL65 AMG.

UDel

Jay is a big car guy and has an impressive collection, most of his collection are old rare American or British cars, he also has people build special cars and vehicles for him. He has a steam powered car, a car with a old sherman tank engine, a motorcycle with a helicopter jet engine, a classic firetruck, handmade 427 Cobra, a Orange County chopper, the Renualt hatchback that has the engine mounted in the back and some exotics like a Lamborgini Countach, McLaren F1. I think I read where is not a big fan of Ferraris and has never owned one. I read an article where he got a Porsche Carrera GT, Mercedes SLR, and Ford GT around the same time, maybe even on the same day. He drives a different vehicle to work each year and has a warehouse for his collection. Jay is not like most rappers, sports figures, or actors who generally buy the hot cars at the moment and then sell them to get the next hot car. Jay generally keeps all the vehicles he buys or has made for him which is why he has such a big collection. He sometimes writes articles for car mags. He gets several million a year for the tonite show and flies around and does a standup show almost every week. Must be nice

rominl

iTrader: (4)

correct, he has a warehouse, and to clarify, he drives different car to work every day or the yr. so that means he has over 300 cars? well i mean, we got a warehouse for him anyway....

and all that started out with him being a mechanic

TheRupp

That's good that he's a collector and enthusiast though, and not just a status guy. He drove the pace car at the Daytona 500 this year, don't know if that's been mentioned yet