Back in the '00s, AMG was - quite rightly - so proud of what it had achieved with the M156, its first ground-up V8, that it wanted to go one step further. It wanted a ground-up new supercar for that incredible 6.2-litre to power, one that would take the firm to places it had never been before. The SLS was the result.
In characteristic style, the engine was significantly overhauled from its previous installations, sufficiently so to be given a new designation: M159, the same as went on to be used in GT3-spec racers. It was dry-sumped, for starters, to get the V8 as low as possible (and ensure oil supply on track), as well as boasting new cams, headers and tweaks to the valvetrain. An engine that felt monstrously muscular in C-Class saloon was now 570hp strong (i.e. another hundred-odd horsepower more than in a C63), ready to fight the supercar elite with its Getrag dual-clutch gearbox and doors to make a Lamborghini look boring.
The reviews were glowing; bar a surprisingly sluggish gearbox and its sheer width, the SLS was praised for its handling, performance, sense of occasion and refinement. But 2009 wasn’t a great time to launch a new supercar, even with a sensational AMG powertrain. The perception of it being just a Mercedes to some, and with a (related) engine also in the cheaper SL, probably didn’t help sell it to the supercar elite. This meant that by 2013 there were genuine SLS bargains to be had. There’s a PH story of a two-year-old, 4,500-mile car with something like £60k off it; hard to imagine a car of the SLS’s calibre could ever have been subjected to such ignominy. But while AMG was absolutely sure of what it had created, it took the market a little longer.
Once the 6.2 had been retired and the AMG GT launched - the latter looking like a more natural extension of the Mercedes range rather than some hot rod homage to a historic racer - the significance of the SLS became better appreciated. Values went with it. Those after a relative bargain ought to plump for the Roadster, which still looks a million bucks and boasts all the aural theatre - but, of course, goes without the doors. And if you’re getting an SLS, the doors are a must.
This must be the only car ad going where the additional opening space required to open the doors is mentioned. (It’s 36.3cm, fyi.) They remain such a talking point 15 years on, the gullwing so seldom seen and all the more interesting for it. Handily, the dealer here has conformed to the one rule of selling an SLS, and that’s to include at least one image with the doors up.
Sadly they’ve neglected to include much about history and whatnot, but this is also a 17,000-mile, 2011 example that looks almost museum-grade. It’s probably been looked after alright. Le Mans Red is certainly attention-grabbing, too, a proper supercar colour for a proper supercar rather than the more Mercedes-typical blues, blacks and silvers that tend to be seen. As befits a car this epic, SLS values are back in proper supercar territory as well: this one is the best part of £180k, meaning it’s gone from less valuable than the equivalent Ferrari 458 - also with 570hp from a sublime V8 - to worth even more, which is quite some achievement for the SLS over a few years. Arguably nothing more than it deserves.
SPECIFICATION | MERCEDES SLS AMG
Engine: 6,208cc V8
Transmission: 7-speed twin-clutch auto, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 571@6,800rpm
Torque (lb ft): 479@4,750rpm
MPG: 21.4 (NEDC combined)
CO2: 308g/km
First registered: 2011
Recorded mileage: 19,000
Price new: £167,365
Yours for: £177,990
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