Ultimate SL has Veyron in sight!

By Dan Strong

01st February 2010

Here's how you do it, ’sson! German tuner Carlsson has worked its magic on Mercedes’ SL600 – but instead of adding a bodykit and uprating the engine, it has come up with its own supercar, badged the C25, which will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

Although the SL600 is a potent starting point, a spokesman for Carlsson said the similarities between the C25 and the donor car have been kept to a minimum. “Only the windscreen, side windows and A-pillars are original,” he told us. “The rest of the exterior is done entirely by us.”

A fixed roof replaces the SL’s folding hard-top, to give added torsional rigidity. And every crease and slash has been painstakingly sketched, modelled and manufactured in-house to ensure the C25 looks as if it’s moving quickly even when it’s at a standstill.

This car is about much more than ultra-aggressive bodywork, though. Under the skin, there’s enough firepower to leave anything short of a Bugatti Veyron trailing. The SL600’s AMG-built 6.0-litre twin-turbo V12 powerplant has been remapped to give 743bhp and an electronically limited 1,150Nm of torque.

That’s 233bhp and 320Nm respectively more than the regular model, and enough for a 0-62mph sprint time of 3.7 seconds. Top speed is 219mph – only a few mph behind the Ferrari Enzo.

Despite its huge potential, Carlsson claims the C25 is docile enough to use every day. And what’s more, it can be serviced at your local Mercedes dealer.

But you’ll need deep pockets and a slice of luck to get your hands on one. Only 25 examples will be built – one allocated to each country in which Carlsson trades – with a price tag of around £430,000