SLS wings way to a total smash hit

13th November 2009

It's Mercedes’ Italian Job!

The firm has taken inspiration from Michael Caine’s “You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off” line for a safety system in its SLS AMG.

These stills from an official Merc video show that if sensors detect the £150,000 supercar has been upside down for 10 seconds after a smash, special ‘pyrotechnic bolts’ blow the gullwing doors away from their roof-mounted hinges, providing passengers with an easy escape.

The clip shows the car being dropped on to its roof from a height of three feet. A muffled explosion releases each door, which then come away from their frames. The same footage depicts the 4.6-metre- long SLS AMG absorbing a front-end smash so well that its screen remains completely intact.

The new machine does promise to be a handful for inexperienced drivers. Its AMG-tuned V8 delivers a huge 563bhp, and propels the rear-wheel-drive two-seater from 0-62mph in a claimed 3.7 seconds.

On sale next July, the car is set to spawn a fabric-roofed roadster version within two years, while an electric model may arrive in showrooms in 2013.

Click here to see the explosive video!

Tell us about your car in our Driver Power survey.