Lid’s off open-top SLS

By Sam Hardy

21st August 2009

You wait ages for one SLS Roadster – then several turn up at once!

We caught Mercedes engineers hard at work putting a pair of prototypes through their paces in the US – and they brought along a Coupé version for good measure, too.

Look closely at the silver and black cars and you’ll see some extra cladding around the roof and rear haunches, which hides the folding fabric electric lid from prying eyes. Mercedes’ clever Airscarf system, which vents hot air on to the occupants’ necks, will feature alongside a host of other luxuries.

As is indicated by the addition of visible door handles, the Roadster model gets conventionally opening doors rather than the gullwing arrangement of the Coupé variant.

Apart from that, there’s no change from its stablemate, with identical tail-lights and chrome-tipped twin exhausts.

Underneath the bonnet, the Roadster uses the same 6.2-litre V8, so the soft-top will have blistering pace and reach 0-60mph in less than four seconds.

Scheduled to make its debut at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show, the open-top supercar is expected to cost an eye-watering £175,000 when it goes on sale next year.

It won’t be the final variant, either; an electric SLS is due in 2012, while a 600bhp Black Series model will arrive in 2014.

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