MERCEDES 500SL/600 AMG
The MERCEDES 500SL/600 AMG
In the 1990s, Mercedes is winning German Touring Car races, winning the Indy 500 and entering Formula One with Sauber. Trouble is, the Mercedes road cars we see in the showrooms today no longer seem to reflect the company's sporting success, and Mercedes Benz is rather more famous for big, heavy luxury saloons than sports cars. Though the SL concept has continued unbroken for thirty years, the current model, launched in 1989, is closer to Soft-top Luxury than Sports Light.
Now, to give this undeniably successful car an extra twist of lemon (5217 have already been sold in the UK), Mercedes has turned to their arch modifiers, AMG, to supply an engine, and the result is the new SL6O, proposed as a 'true' sports car to convince the sceptics.
If only SL stood for Straight Line, then I could write that the SL60 is dazzlingly efficient at carrying out its brief. This former 5-litre V8 engine has been hollowed out to become a 6-litre (hence the 5L60 name, but don't get mixed up with the SL600- that's a 6-litre Vi 2, you see?) AMG has wrung the neck of this new V8 unit to produce 375bhp, and when you let rip on a wide straight road you feel almost every cubic centimetre obeying the charge and rocketing you along. This is accompanied by a deep VS grumble, which elevates with the revs to a powerful howl, the kind that would satisfy the most demanding of sports ears.
But just because I'm harping on about its straight-line ability you shouldn't imagine for a moment that the car is poor around corners. 'SL' could well refer to the Stability Lesson that this Mercedes could give most cars in its class. All SL's sit absolutely foursquare on the road and the smaller engined versions in particular display quite superb agility and sure footedness despite their size and weight. The SL60 goes one step further, and AMG's own suspension modifications make this ride a little firmer and the cornering tighter. The legendary Mercedes build quality ensures the AMG car has zero rattles and no wibbly wobbly behaviour through potholes. In this respect, the car is a peach.
And yet, despite this car's absolutely enormous appeal, I cannot put my hand on my heart and tell you that the SL6O fulfils Mercedes' SL sportscar role. The other models, especially the Vi 2 version, are inescapably goad cars, certainly amongst the most desirable in the world, but they are open cruisers. The V12's enormous torque makes it ideal for swishing along in a Grand Tourer style, and that, in the main, is what it's used for. Judging the SL6O as a true sportscar, however, it neither sets my heart alight nor gets my adrenaline pumpin'.
The main reason for this lack of emotion is the SL6O's automatic gearbox. Attaching a six speed manual to the AMG engine would not only transform the car, it would change the sound it makes (more high revs please) and importantly it would change the driver's driving itself. The four speed Automatic box that comes as standard on all the SL's is great, fabby, super dooper, I'm not complaining, OK? But it doesn't allow you to let your hair down and go wild. It reduces your progress to a nice lazy float - this may beat high speed, it may be at a crawl, but the SL60, like all the SL's, requires no more driver involvement at 85mph than at 35mph. You can't even order a manual box, because there's no demand for them. None at all. This isn't a problem. The SL6O is undoubtedly a truly great car and hugely desirable, but simply not quite my cup of tea. Maybe when I'm a little more refined, when my youthfulness has matured, when I'm blessed with more of Old Father Time's wisdom, even, maybe then an auto SL will be just the thing I'm after.
Right now, though, the SL6O seems likes hybrid of sportiness and casual luxury, and a waste of a good car as a result. A venerable colleague, blessed with more maturity and vision, came up with the real solution for Mercedes to convince the sceptics. Forget the ever more powerful engines, and strip out an SL to do a Club Sport version. Fit a manual gearbox. Dead right Brian, that car will evoke the halcyon days of Mercedes SL sportscars, and I'd want one of those. At an expected £85,000 to £90,000, I'll not be ordering an SL6O this year I'm afraid, but 15 people will, Both Mercedes Benz and I are confident of that.
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