Get your Goggles ready for the SLR Stirling Moss
The Mercedes-Benz SLR Stirling Moss can accelerate to 62 mph in 3.5 sec. It's capable of 217 mph. So what, you say. Those numbers have become standard supercar fare. The Ferrari Enzo can touch 225 mph. The Corvette ZR1 barrels to 60 mph in 3.3 sec. Ah, but here's the twist -- this SLR does its thing without roof, windows, and windshield. Envision the wind buffeting you mercilessly at 150 mph or how a bug or rock would feel hitting you at that speed. That's the SLR Stirling Moss sensation. It's a car created as a tribute to the man crazy enough to drive a Formula 1-based car 1000 miles flat out at an average speed of nearly 100 mph -- all with little more than an open-face helmet and goggles protecting him from the violently onrushing air and debris. For those uneducated in motorsport heroes of yesteryear, Moss is a bona-fide racing legend. Versatile as he was fast, he competed in both Le Mans and Formula 1 with much success. Later, he became known as "the greatest driver never to win the World Championship." Moss' most prolific victory among the many he scored behind the wheel of a Mercedes came in the aforementioned endurance race: the 1955 Mille Miglia. There he piloted a Mercedes Benz 300SLR bearing the number 722, and covered 1000 miles in 10 hours/seven minutes/48 seconds. That's why this windshield-free SLR bears the Stirling Moss name. Mercedes already celebrated Moss' victory two years ago with another Mercedes McLaren special edition called the SLR722, a car that received a modest power upgrade, badges, and shiny new wheels over the base SLR. The Stirling Moss goes much further. Besides eliminating the glass and roof (there a couple of tiny wind deflectors), Mercedes made dramatic changes to the bodywork, which is done entirely in carbon fiber like the SLR roadster. Gone are the vents aft of the front wheels, in their place are dual exhaust pipes that exit straight through the bodywork, as they did in the 300. The side skirts have been raised, the doors trimmed, and the nose sharpened -- Silver Arrow style. The headlights are a nod to the Mille Miglia winner, as are the air scoops behind the driver and passenger. Okay, the 300 just had one scoop, but we'll ignore this historical faux pas in the name of safety as the scoops double as rollbars. Mercedes even translates the original 300's bulge on the passenger side of the Stirling Moss' hood, necessary at the time to fit the 310-hp inline-eight. The supercharged 5.4L V-8 underhood dwarfs the original motor and adds another 340 ponies for a total output of 650 hp. The Stirling Moss SLR also employs a closed underbody and a bigger rear diffuser than on the base SLR in an effort to further improve downforce. The Mercedes Airbrake system, a spoiler that deploys under aggressive braking, can also be manually operated by the driver. The relatively Spartan cabin features a mix of carbon fiber, aluminum, and leather trimmings. An aluminum plate located in the area around the gearshift features a Stirling Moss signature, and the cockpit can be closed with the two tonneau covers stored in the trunk. After its world debut at the 2009 Detroit auto show, Mercedes will begin production of the Stirling Moss in May 2009, just after the SLR run ends. The company plans on building a scant 75 examples for European customers only between then and December, which will officially spell the end of the SLR partnership between Mercedes and McLaren. Each model will be offered only to current, "most loyal" SLR customers with an expected price in the if-you-have-to-ask nature. OK, if you really have to ask, it's 750,000 euro, or just over $1 million a copy. A word of advice to those auspicious customers: Keep an eye out for wayward bugs.
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