There must be a glitch in the Matrix – 55% of you voted for the Blackwing! I must say, I agree. Get one before it’s gone. This week, fresh off the SL review, I’m bringing in the big AMGuns. I’ll bet it’s been awhile since you thought about the Mercedes SL65 AMG Black Series (wait till you see the price!). Is it really a super car, because I can find an SLR for around the same cost.
The 2009 Mercedes SL65 AMG Black Series vs the 2006 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren
See the Mercedes SL65 AMG Black Series listing here
See the Mercedes McLaren SLR listing here
I called the current SL a serious sports car. It’s so serious that it really doesn’t need you to have fun. But was there ever a time that an AMG encouraged you to do so?
Maybe we need to jump one step higher – the Black Series. They certainly look the part, with fat fender flairs and rorty engine notes. Not every AMG gets the treatment, and they are extremely rare. How rare? You might need a mortgage…
- 11,992 miles
- Three owners
- Lived in Florida and Ohio. Now it’s in Brooklyn.
- $339,989. This better be one special SL.
Now, the car itself looks perfect. I think I’d even prefer this silver over the typical black. And it does give you something few cars ever did: a V-12 with two turbos attached. This thing reached 60 in 3.6 seconds in 2009.
It looks great outside too, better than some newer versions released. But step inside and it is very clear what decade this SL was was built in.
And remember, this is Mercedes, so no fun – the convertible top goes away, replaced with a fixed roof. Don’t worry, it’s still 4,100 lbs, even though it has carbon fiber bits.
Yet I dig it, and no one else will show up in one at the next Cars and Coffee. But is it a true super car?
The 2008 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren
I must admit, I never understood the SLR. A joint venture between Merc and McLaren back when the Germans owned a stake in the British company, it never seemed to catch on. Though sold until 2010, this SLR was released in 2006, so its bodywork looks much older than the SL. It didn’t sell very well either, with only a little over 1,000 units moved during its production run.
But that means exclusive. Some of these can go for incredible money, so to keep it within the price range of the SL, we need to go for a hardtop:
- $394,999
- 9,945 miles
- Six owners!
- Lived in places like Florida, Montana and Ohio.
Roadsters can go as high as nearly $800,000, so this SLR seems like a steal. There’s a V-8 here, supercharged with 617 horsepower, providing a much different experience than the V-12. Bolted to a five-speed automatic (told you it was old), the SLR is a bit faster than the Black Series, getting to 60 in 3.4 seconds. That’s $27,505 per tenth.
The SLR did have some cool kit back in 2006. Carbon ceramic brakes, active aero, a brake-by-wire system, and a flat floor that forced the exhaust pipes to exist out of the side instead of the back.
Now remember, Mercedes styled the car, but McLaren did everything else, so it’s really more “Tea time”, less “Oktoberfest”. The partnership stemmed from F1, and McLaren had to go in and redesign much of the car from the initial Mercedes concept. Can you imagine how the German engineers took to that?
Doors and dollars
Perhaps you know the meme. You haven’t “made” it until you have a Mercedes with doors that go like this (up), not like this (side). There is a bit of an exotic feel to the SLR with its side pipes and Gullwing doors, but I’m not sure the car has aged very well. While the Mercedes SL65 AMG Black Series doesn’t have as much “fancy”, it’ll be hard to resist that twin turbo V-12.
What do you prefer?
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