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View Full Version : Mercedes Considers Ragtop Version of Slow-Selling SLR



mikeyb
03-13-2006, 10:05 AM
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/il/news/2006/0310/mercedes.slr.concept.500.jpg

The SLR roadster concept debuted years ago, now there may be a production version.

WOKING, England — Mercedes-Benz wants to give its slow-selling SLR supercar (http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/ViewModelDetail/make=Mercedes-Benz/model=SLR%20McLaren) 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 (http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/ViewModelDetail/make=Ferrari/model=F430).

source:http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=109600#2

seanmcsean
03-13-2006, 10:22 AM
wow... that would be pretty sweet.

I wonder why they aren't selling well.. I like it better than the carerra gt...

Iggy
03-13-2006, 11:38 AM
that would be pretty cool

Protege52003
03-13-2006, 11:51 AM
i like it......! will probably never own one though!

-R

cheapmiata1600
03-13-2006, 12:19 PM
Um, I'd bet the $450,000 pricetag has more to do with slow sales than lack of a convertable option. Not having a manual transmission option would really kill it for me if I were looking to spend half a mil on a car...

silverspeed03
03-13-2006, 03:24 PM
wow... that would be pretty sweet.

I wonder why they aren't selling well.. I like it better than the carerra gt...

Really?

NVP5White
03-13-2006, 03:30 PM
I can't imagine it will be a simple chop-job to add the folding top. The cockpit is a carbon fiber-aluminum honeycomb structure. The whole thing was designed to keep those pretty faces that can afford this thing in good condition if (when) they crash doing 190mph+ like that jackass in the Enzo a few weeks ago. If they remove a substancial part of the structure, then they'd have to resdesign the entire cockpit to keep it crash worthy. The only reason that this is important is because a redesign will cost a lot of money. Plus I don;t think they'll be able to sell it for any more than the coupe.

jred321
03-13-2006, 03:46 PM
if i won the lotto and wanted an every day car, that'd be it. then a carrera gt for the track :)

vindication
03-13-2006, 04:09 PM
I bet they would sell a whole bunch if they dropped the price to about....ohhh....I dont know....$30k :D I'd buy one.

mikeyb
03-13-2006, 05:13 PM
They will have to redesign the way the door open.