Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren

In the 1990s Mercedes-Benz and McLaren were successfully working together in Formula 1 and these two heavyweights of auto-racing decided they would make a street legal supercar together, it was named the Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR.

It first arrived for sale in the UK around 2004 before being discontinued in 2009 with over 2,000 in total being built. It took it’s inspiration from the 300 SLR racing car from the 1950s which famously won the Mille Miglia with Sterling Moss at the wheel.

Dramatically styled with it’s elongated nose, scissor doors and it’s carbon fibre body shell the SLR is only available in left-hand drive much like it’s rivals at the time; the Carrera GT and the Enzo. It uses a 5.4L supercharged V8 engine producing 617bhp and was capable of speeds of well over 200mph. The engineering and racing pedigree of McLaren ensured the SLR had truly astonishing performance but this was balanced with the high levels of comfort and practicality that Mercedes brought to the table and essentially made it more of a GT car.

The convertible SLR Roadster soon followed while there was the limited 722 edition which featured more power and slightly revised styling with the “722” badging referring to the number given to the Sterling Moss Millie Miglia car. The 722s was a convertible version of this of which there are just 150 examples worldwide and is sure to be a great investment car for the future.

Perhaps the crowning jewel of the SLR lifespan was the “Stirling Moss’ edition of which there are just 75 cars worldwide which was inspired again by the 300 SLR race car and comes with no roof or windscreen and this was the last SLR built under the partnership of Mercedes and McLaren.

Though the Mercedes SLR McLaren never reached the desirability of some of it’s rivals it is sure of it’s place in supercar history and having sold plenty of them when they first came out it’s definitely a model we would always love to have for sale at Romans.