1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, 2009 Mercedes-McLaren paved method for at present’s AMGs

• 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR W 196 S served as a growth automotive for sports activities automotive racing
• Junkyard 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL roadster bought for $1.19 million
• 1997 Renntech E60 RS was owned by Jerry Seinfeld
• 2009 Mercedes-McLaren Stirling Moss Version hit 60 mph in 3.6 seconds

Ask the top of Mercedes-Benz Heritage what the heritage of the model is and efficiency isn’t prime of thoughts. 

“The actual heritage is the pioneering spirit, the highest execution, the timeless design, the highest supplies, and it’s the identical at present,” Marcus Breitschwerdt instructed me final weekend on the Moda Miami concours. And but, lots of the vehicles Mercedes dropped at the occasion had been efficiency fashions from the model’s illustrious previous.

Efficiency on the road and the monitor has been a part of the Mercedes-Benz expertise earlier than it even was an organization. Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, which might merge with Benz & Cie in 1926 to create Daimler-Benz AG, constructed the first “Mercedes” in 1901 as a race automotive. The so-called Mercedes 35 hp was commissioned by Emil Jellinek and named after his daughter Mercedes.

Whereas high quality and luxurious have trumped efficiency for a lot of the firm’s 99-year historical past, the model has constructed true racing and efficiency standouts. On the sidelines of Moda Miami concours, Mercedes Heritage gave me the chance to drive (and in a single case experience in) a few of Mercedes’s greatest efficiency vehicles of the previous and current on the Concours Membership in Opa-locka, Florida. The drives concerned some slow-paced monitor laps and road jaunts on Miami’s typically crowded floor streets and highways. By means of these drives I recognized a throughline of Mercedes efficiency that reaches its zenith at present.

2009 Mercedes-McLaren SLR Stirling Moss Version

The session began with a drive in a automotive that was constructed as a three way partnership that wouldn’t be mandatory anymore. Mercedes teamed up with its System 1 associate McLaren to introduce the Mercedes-McLaren SLR in 2003. At this time, such a automotive can be designed by the AMG group, however Mercedes didn’t totally personal AMG till 2005. The automotive was constructed till 2009, and it went out with a special-edition mannequin known as the SLR Stirling Moss Version. The Moss Version constructed on the 722 mannequin, utilizing the identical 641-hp supercharged 5.4-liter V-8 backed by the identical 5-speed computerized transmission. It sported a speedster physique model with no roof, a small windscreen in entrance of the driving force, and a detachable structural beam between the seats for added rigidity.

Simply stepping into the SLR for my drive confirmed how critical this beast was about efficiency. It required an enormous step over a large door sill that creates a monocoque really feel and contributes to sturdy structural rigidity. As soon as inside, the SLR offered a novel expertise. It had extra of a tub really feel than any automotive I’ve ever pushed as a result of excessive beltline matched by the high-set heart beam. The nostril appeared to exist in a special zip code to accommodate the front-mid-engine structure, and the perhaps three-inch-tall windscreen offered no safety from something which may fly up from the street.

With a pair of photographers hanging out of a 2025 Mercedes-Benz AMG SL 63 S E-Efficiency in entrance of our merry line of classic vehicles, speeds had been extraordinarily restricted, however a number of the SLR’s efficiency bona fides confirmed by means of. The steering had good heft, fast reactions, and good street really feel. The automotive’s angle stayed very flat within the couple of corners I might take at any velocity. And after I lagged again and hit the throttle the supercharged V-8 erupted with fast moments of burst earlier than I needed to let off. With brake-by-wire, although, the brake pedal felt unresponsive earlier than setting off, however then settled in as predictable the few occasions I had to make use of it.

I’d love one other shot within the SLR with out a picture automotive in the way in which, and I’d predict correct supercar efficiency for the period that’s seemingly surpassed by at present’s prime AMG GT and AMG SL fashions. 

1997 Renntech E60 RS

The Renntech E60 RS will surely be an AMG mannequin at present, however in 1997 when this automotive was constructed for comic Jerry Seinfeld Mercedes wanted assist to show its E 420 sedan right into a efficiency machine. Whereas AMG, a separate German tuner on the time, did work on the automotive, Mercedes additionally labored with the Florida store Renntech to get essentially the most out of its sport sedan. The modifications to the E 420 had been quite a few. The 4.2-liter V-8 was punched out to six.0 liters and energy rose from 275 hp to 434 hp. This unlocked a 4.6-second 0-60 mph time, down from 6.7 seconds. A limited-slip rear differential was added for traction out of corners, and the transmission was swapped for a beefier 5-speed computerized. Renntech hammered its personal wider fenders and put in its personal physique package. The Florida firm additionally lowered the suspension, reworked the rear subframe and rear wishbones, and put in stiffer sway bars back and front. The inside obtained white gauge faces with a 200-mph speedometer from Renntech, a Renntech sport steering wheel, and a blueberry and grey coloration scheme, in addition to “J.S. Version” sill plates. All instructed, the modifications added $115,000 to the $50,000 or so value of an E 420.

After driving the Stirling Moss SLR, the Renntech’s steering initially felt too mild. That’s a disgrace as a result of hydraulic energy steering normally has good really feel, however it was moderately uninteresting right here. In any other case, nevertheless, the Renntech E60 RS was an absolute pleasure to drive. The work Renntech did to the rear finish actually paid off. The speeds elevated a bit for these laps and the automotive remained impressively flat in corners. The rear finish felt strong and planted, making it simple for me to image Seinfeld snaking the Renntech E 60 down Mulholland Drive at evening after a protracted day of taking pictures his sitcom.

My preliminary impression from the monitor was that I’d like to drive this automotive every day. A later road drive solely strengthened that impression, because the experience high quality remained moderately forgiving regardless of the decrease, stiffer suspension. The V-8 had good energy, too, although with out turbocharging it didn’t kick onerous from a cease like at present’s engines. Renntech constructed 60 of those vehicles, and their efficiency nonetheless holds up 28 years later.

1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL roadster

5 months in the past, this 1957 300 SL roadster contemporary out of a junkyard, bought to an RM Sotheby’s public sale for $1.19 million. It was so precious as a result of the 300 SL was precious normally and since this explicit automotive was certainly one of solely 39 constructed with the knockoff hubcaps. The automotive hadn’t run because the Seventies as its battery was final modified in 1972. It was lacking additionally the grille, the passenger seat and quite a few different components. After the public sale, the automotive went to the Mercedes-Benz Traditional Heart in Lengthy Seashore, Calif., to get it operating, and 5 months later I used to be driving it round a racetrack. The Traditional Heart didn’t should rebuild the engine, however a whole lot of work went into making the automotive roadworthy, together with the alternative of all rubber elements. The store additionally had an identical passenger seat in an identical state of disrepair, and whereas each seats look crushed down by the climate, they’ve new stuffing beneath weathered upholstery.

Although it was simply the slowest of the bunch, it was an unbelievable deal with to drive this automotive. The 300 SL’s 3.0-liter inline-6 initially put out 215 hp thanks partly to a really early software of direct injection, however a rep from the Mercedes-Benz Traditional Heart estimated that perhaps 150 of these ponies stay on this automotive’s secure. The 300 SL was the quickest convertible on the earth in its day, however right here I couldn’t even sustain with the digital camera automotive, partially as a result of Mercedes didn’t need me to rev it over 4,500 rpm and partially as a result of the ability constructed moderately slowly. The steering didn’t assist both. The steering wheel is so huge that it rubbed towards my lap and the handbook steering was heavy even at velocity. Too many laps on this automotive and also you’re chancing a pulled intercostal muscle.

My laps within the SL amounted to a shakedown session to work out the remaining bugs that had infested this automotive over many years of storage. Whereas it fortunately had a synchromesh 4-speed handbook transmission, discovering second gear proved problematic when downshifting. The automotive misplaced energy resulting from gasoline hunger from sloshing the gasoline round within the corners, and the precise rear brake locked up on me as soon as. The automotive had a lot patina that the proprietor and the Traditional Heart hadn’t even cleaned the windshield of its storage grime. That made it onerous to see on the way in which ahead on components of the monitor as we had been driving close to sundown. Nonetheless, driving it was a singular expertise that made me recognize the engineering and high quality that went into the unique.

1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR W 196 S

Automakers don’t dole out monitor drives and even rides in multi-million greenback race vehicles fairly often, so it was an honor to experience shotgun within the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR W 196 S, chassis quantity 2. To offer you an thought of how precious this automotive could possibly be, a 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR grand prix automotive not too long ago bought for $53 million at public sale.

Whereas this instance was constructed as a race automotive, it didn’t do any precise racing. As an alternative it was a growth automotive and check automotive for drivers resembling Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss. Mercedes racing would check out new components on this automotive earlier than rolling them out to the precise race vehicles.

The W 196 S was associated to the model’s F1 vehicles of the day, however it was constructed for the Sports activities Automobile World Championship, thus the S within the identify. It additionally used a extra highly effective engine, a 3.0-liter straight-8 (moderately than the F1’s automotive’s 2.5-liter model) that spit out 306 hp. Its magnesium physique rode on a tubular body with a double-wishbone entrance suspension, a rear swing axle, and inboard drum brakes. With the assistance of this automotive, Mercedes received the championship in 1955, which might be the W 196 S’s solely racing season as Mercedes pulled out of racing after a tragic crash on the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans that claimed the lives of driver Pierre Levegh and 83 spectators.

My experience in chassis quantity 2 was exhilarating. It began by swinging a leg over the passenger facet (no door right here) to step on the seat, bracing myself towards sturdier sections of the pliant magnesium physique and plunking my too-big backside right into a too-small seat with no belt. As soon as on the monitor, the racing credibility of this automotive turned instantly evident. It set a now-faster tempo with no downside, accelerated onerous within the few areas the place the stoic German mechanic on the wheel might open it up, and set free a banshee scream from its 306-hp inline-8 that drowned out all the opposite vehicles. I struggled to brace myself for corners, and my pretty quick legs butted up towards the entrance bulkhead. After my time within the 300 SL I assumed the steering could be heavy, however the driver mentioned the steering was mild. That’s due partly to much less unsprung weight given the inboard brakes and partly to a special screw-type steering mechanism moderately than the 300 SL’s recirculating ball.

I recognize the experience, however it will have been tons of enjoyable to pilot the 300 SLR myself, and I estimate its monitor occasions might put a few of at present’s sports activities vehicles to the check.

2025 Mercedes-Benz AMG SL 63 S E Efficiency

Whereas I didn’t drive the AMG SL 63 S E Efficiency on the monitor, I did drive it on the road and I’ve put different variations of the SL and the associated GT by means of their paces on twisty roads. With 791 hp from its hybridized twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8, this automotive spits out 150 extra horses than the SLR hypercar of lower than twenty years in the past. That allows a 0-60 mph time of two.8 seconds, virtually a second faster than the SLR. The SL/GT duo had been totally developed by AMG, and whereas they’re pretty heavy, they’re additionally nice performers, particularly sportier variations of the GT, such because the 63 S and the 63 Professional. They’re additionally comfy for on a regular basis driving, sport extra know-how and higher-quality interiors than ever earlier than.

The SL and GT symbolize a shift at Mercedes within the final twenty years. The normal luxurious and high quality that the model has delivered all through its historical past is joined by world-class efficiency in top-line AMG fashions. Mercedes has provided that kind of efficiency sometimes through the years, typically with exterior assist, however now it could actually do it by itself.