The End of a Great Era: The Final Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Sports Cars
6th December 2009
 The
final examples of the Mercedes-Benz SLR Stirling Moss are currently being
built, bringing the active era of the SLR super sports car from
Mercedes-Benz and McLaren to an end.
In 2004, with the swing-wing
Coupé, Mercedes-Benz and McLaren jointly set out to continue the story of
the legendary SLR racing sports cars of the 1950s. Five exciting variants in
the SLR family have been produced – two coupés, two roadster versions and
finally the uncompromisingly purist SLR Stirling Moss. This breathtaking,
high-speed racer is a limited edition of 75 examples, and is the final
chapter in the modern SLR story.
In all, 2000 SLR sports cars have
been produced – substantially more than any other sports car in this elite
category.
What’s more, an SLR also represents a membership ticket to
the SLR. CLUB. The spirit of the SLR will live on in this exclusive
community of passionate and enthusiastic drivers even after production
ceases.
Three famous letters: SLR
Three letters
are all it takes to make car fans go into raptures: SLR. On paper, the
legendary name simply stands for "sporty", "light" and "raceworthy". But,
for connoisseurs, this magical combination of letters designates a dream car
of special standing, promising unequalled driving enjoyment – a unique blend
of outstanding dynamics, superior performance and exceptional comfort.
In January 2009 Mercedes-Benz presented the most spectacular and
uncompromising version of the reinterpreted 300 SLR as the last model in the
SLR family - the SLR Stirling Moss. It has neither a roof nor a windscreen
to separate the driver and front passenger from nature, allowing them to
enjoy sheer high-speed excitement with all the attributes of a speedster.
Further attributes of the new Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss
include highly sophisticated technology and breathtaking design that
provides a new take on the SLR legend.
A V8 supercharged engine
developing 478 kW accelerates the SLR Stirling Moss from zero to 100 km/h in
less than 3.5 seconds, and is good for a top speed of 350 km/h. This extreme
concept makes this new high-performance sports car a worthy and legitimate
bearer of the name of British motor-racing legend Stirling Moss, who piloted
the legendary Mercedes-Benz SLR racing cars to a succession of victories in
the 1950s.
The SLR Stirling Moss accompanied by the 300 SLR and
members of the SLR. CLUB celebrated its maiden journey at this year's Mille
Miglia, in the hands of the former Mercedes Formula 1 drivers Mika Häkkinen
and David Coulthard. Sir Stirling Moss himself had even made a return to
Brescia witness this historic event.
The SLR Stirling Moss is a
limited edition of 75 examples, and production of the SLR series will then
cease at the end of 2009.
The SLR spirit lives on
From the start the SLR project was conceived as a limited-production car to
be built over a limited time period, and this is now coming to a
magnificent, entirely fitting end with the SLR Stirling Moss. The SLR spirit
lives on, however, and will be perpetuated by the enthusiastic members of
the SLR. CLUB. In addition to a passion for driving, the members of this
exclusive community of drivers, all of whom have an SLR model in their
garages, share a discerning, sophisticated lifestyle and the enjoyment of
encounters with like-minded enthusiasts.
The high-quality event
calendar of the SLR. CLUB includes driving events on the most demanding race
circuits, participation in the Mille Miglia and tours covering the most
picturesque routes in Europe. Individual, long-term backup and care at the
very highest level for SLR. CLUB members is assured by dedicated
Mercedes-Benz personnel well beyond the end of production.
The birth of a legend
The SLR legend was born in 1955, when
Rudolf Uhlenhaut, then head of passenger-car testing and in charge of
racing-car development at Mercedes-Benz, transformed a fascinating idea into
reality. He combined the design and technology of the spectacular
Mercedes-Benz 300 SL "Gullwing" model produced since 1954 with the
outstanding characteristics of the 300 SLR, one of the most successful
racing machines of all time, which at that time dominated all the major road
races – above all the notorious Tourist Trophy in Northern Ireland and the
two Italian classics: Targa Florio and Mille Miglia. Here, Stirling Moss and
Dennis Jenkinson piloted the racing Mercedes to victory in a record time
that still stands to this very day.
But the Brits were not the only
ones to achieve success in the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR.
Juan Manuel
Fangio, who went on to become Formula-1 World Champion five times, and the
speedy Karl Kling drove the sports car from Untertürkheim to many a place on
the rostrum. The road-going Coupé version of this legendary racing machine –
better known as the "Uhlenhaut Coupé" among automotive aficionados – was at
the heart of the passionate affection for the SLR held by automotive
enthusiasts.
High-class synthesis of legend, performance and
comfort
The models in the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren family,
which have been rolling off the assembly lines at the world
championship-winning team's headquarters in Woking since 2004, are the most
emphatic reminders of the glory years of the SLR during the 1950s. They have
brought the core values of the historic SLR models into the modern era – an
exciting design featuring many details reminiscent of its predecessors,
innovative technology and carefully hand-crafted, high-grade materials. They
also continue the tradition of the high-class Gran Turismo models in
time-honoured fashion.
The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren models offer a
beguiling mix of optimum handling, extremely high speed and outstanding
acceleration, not to mention a wealth of exquisite appointments, all of
which makes for a truly unique driving experience.
To keep faith with the
traditionally unique standing of the SLR, Mercedes-Benz and McLaren
Automotive pooled all of their extensive motor-racing know-how to produce
this super sports car. For example, the SLR models set the very highest of
standards in terms of handling, rigidity and safety for high-performance
cars thanks to the extensive use of exceptionally lightweight yet very
strong carbon-fibre materials, including the carbon-fibre front structures
based on Formula 1 monocoque constructions, which optimise the car's
crashworthiness.
Outstanding powerplant for the
front-mid-engine concept
In addition to this, the
front-mid-engine concept allows the masses to be concentrated near the
centre of the car, which makes for a low mass moment of inertia, thereby
producing exceptional agility and handling dynamics. This concept, together
with a chassis configuration born on the racetrack, forms the basis for
optimum handling and peerless driving enjoyment.
Here an important
part is also played by the powerful high-tech engine with motor-racing
genes, which was developed at Mercedes-AMG and provides power in abundance.
In the Coupé and Roadster models, the driver can call upon 460 kW of power
from the eight-cylinder powerplant with a displacement of 5.5 litres, while
the "722" models develop 478 kW, ranking the SLR engines among the most
powerful units for road-going production sports cars.
Exciting design and exquisite interior
The design of the SLR
high-performance sports cars generates sheer excitement by virtue of their
stretched bonnet, taut waistlines, rear-set passenger cells and short rear
ends in the Coupé and Roadster – making the thrill of high-speed performance
visible as well. Features born on the racetrack include the
downforce-enhancing aerodynamic concept which features a diffuser, an
enclosed underbody, a spoiler and the famous rear AIRBRAKE.
As for
the interior of the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren models, the designers have
created a synthesis of puristic sports-car feeling and extraordinary luxury.
Exquisite materials such as carbon fibre, aluminium and leather developed
exclusively for the SLR are of the highest quality and exclusivity. They
dominate the passenger area of these Gran Turismos and further emphasise the
unique nature of the car.
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