What is it?
2009 Mercedes-Benz SLR Stirling Moss
What's special about it?
Well, if a car with no roof and no windshield isn't enough to get your attention, consider the fact that the 2009 Mercedes-Benz SLR Stirling Moss is also capable of hitting 217 mph. Not bad for a car that first arrived way back in 2004.
And since the Mercedes-Benz SLR is clearly not a long enough label, this version carries the additional Stirling Moss suffix. If you're a little light on your history of British racing drivers, Sir Stirling (as he's known these days) famously drove a Mercedes-Benz SLR to win the 1955 Mille Miglia, a thousand-mile race on public roads in Italy.
It too was an open-top, two-seat roadster with a cropped windshield and no side windows. No rollover bars were fitted to the original car, but they've been added to the modern version to at least give the impression that it's safe.
Like its modern coupe and roadster counterparts, the SLR Stirling Moss houses a supercharged 5.5-liter V8 under its massive snout. Output has been bumped to 650 horsepower and it runs through a five-speed automatic transmission to the rear wheels. According to Mercedes-Benz, this SLR is good for acceleration to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.5 seconds, 3/10ths quicker than the SLR Roadster.
Those extra 3/10ths are going to cost you, though. The SLR Stirling Moss will run €750,000 when it goes on sale in Europe next summer. And don't bother trying to translate that number into dollars, as it won't be available in the U.S. (It's $1.05 million if you care.) Only 75 will be produced and they'll constitute the last of the SLR's production run, which has spanned roughly five years.
Inside Line says:
The Mercedes-Benz SLR has been far from a success for either party involved, but at least it's going out with a little style. — Ed Hellwig, Lead Senior Editor
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