Mercedes’ Gullwing SLC is fast becoming the automotive equivalent of Paris Hilton or Kate Moss: photographed at every street corner by the world’s paparazzi. Our latest scoop photos of the Merc Gullwing come straight from the canyons and deserts of Nevada and California.
Earlier this month, we caught the Gullwing with its eponymous doors flipped open for the first time, confirming the link back to the 1950s original, and spy photographers have allegedly been tipped off about the prototypes’ whereabouts to help drum up publicity for this new addition to the Merc range.
It’s Gullwing scoop overload! Time for a quick recap…
We’re still none the wiser about the new Merc supercar’s real name, but it’s been dubbed alternately Gullwing (in honour of those doors) and SLC (thanks to Stuttgartspeak… SL Coupé, anyone?).
In a nutshell, the newcomer will perch at the top of the Mercedes family tree – effectively replacing the Merc-McLaren SLR, although it’ll cost just a third of that composite-bodied supercar.
We’ll see the new coupe in concept guise in 2009, ahead of a full debut at the 2010 Geneva motor show. A cloth-topped roadster is expected in 2011, although quite how those roof-hinged gullwing doors will be squared with a canvas roof is anybody’s guess…
Click ‘Next’ for the full tech spec of the Gullwing
For a full version of this story, buy the new September 2008 issue of CAR Magazine, with a scoop on the new Gullwing by Georg Kacher. Click here for a sampler of the September issueMercedes Gullwing/SLC: at a glance facts
• Price: €150,000 (£120,000).
• Configuration: two-seater coupe
• Engine: AMG 6.3-litre V8
• Power/torque: 571bhp/479lb ft (target)
• Construction: aluminium spaceframe
• Weight: 1650kg (target)
• Weight distribution: 48:52
• Transmission: eight-speed transaxle
• Length/width/height: 4650/1950/1250mm
• Wheelbase: 2700mm
• Performance: 197mph, 3.8sec 0-62mph
It’s plain to see that the Gullwing will be pretty lowslung – the chin spoiler looks perilously close to the Californian desert roads in our latest spy photos above.
But the front-on photo seems to suggest that the Gullwing will adopt the latest Mercedes facial expression – those headlamps look very CLS nestling behind the camouflage…
For a full version of this story, buy the new September 2008 issue of CAR Magazine, with a scoop on the new Gullwing by Georg Kacher. Click here for a sampler of the September issue