Mercedes SLR

The legendary Silver Arrow from the 1950s will now be resurrected as the Mercedes McLaren SLR. Our exclusive pictures of the prototype of the new supercar have just been shot at the world's most challenging racing circuit, the old part of the German Nurburgring.

Auto Express Car Reviews

By ©Automedia

March 2003

The German car giant has bought 40 per cent of the shares in the TAG-McLaren Group. And the new car will be handbuilt by McLaren at its new headquarters in Woking, Surrey.

Where the exterior is concerned, it is clear that the designers have flirted with the past. The sharp edges of the guards over the wheels and the large air intake with ribs behind the front wheels. This is pure nostalgia. Nostalgic yet functional will be the two gullwing-doors and the air-brake, both photographed for the first time in our exclusive spy-shots. At speeds over 150 km/h, the air-brake automatically appears every time the driver touches the brake pedal.

However, the large doors will not be genuine gullwing-doors - this would be too impractical. But they will be able to be swung up at an angle, because they are hinged at the upper front edge of the doors in the same way as on the Lamborghini Countach and Diablo. The new SLR will also be equipped with a double lower wing in the rear end, and a so-called diffuser in the same place.

The Silver Arrow's distinctive body will be produced in high-tech composite plastic materials and aluminium. The cabin section will become a large security cell, while the construction's aluminium front will deform upon collision. The lightweight philosophy will be continued in the undercarriage where, for example, the wheels and wheel suspension will be produced in aluminium. Use will be made of fibre-reinforced ceramics for the disc brakes. These are 65 per cent lighter than cast iron discs and can withstand temperatures twice as high. The SLR will also be given the German factory's new electronic/hydraulic SBS brake system (Sensortronic Brake System).

It has now already been decided that the coming SLR will have an AMG-produced V8 5.5-litre lightweight engine in aluminium and magnesium. Power will be 555bhp at 6,500rpm, which should offer acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.2 seconds, and a top speed of 320 km/h (199 mph).

Annual production will be 500 cars and the price of the SLR will come to be at around 250,000 Euros.