The entire world of professional media men was thrown in a state of astonishment as the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren was presented to the world in the year 2004. In cooperation with McLaren from British Woking, Mercedes Benz developed a super sports car, which redefined the upper class in this segment in terms of design and driving performance. In reminiscence of the popular Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut coupé of the 1950s, the SLR was fitted with exciting butterfly doors and lateral ventilation openings. A limited production of just 3,500 cars was initially envisaged; in the end however, only 2,157 SLR McLarens were delivered.

Under the extremely long engine hood, Mercedes Benz installed a supercharged V8 engine, which developed a performance capacity of 626 horse power and a maximum torque of 780 Nm from its 5.4 liter engine displacement. To generate the optimal weight distribution, the engine was anchored tightly behind the front axle. The classical sprint from 0 to 100 k.p.h. was performed by the SLR McLaren in slightly less than four seconds attaining its maximum speed in excess 330 k.p.h. The highlight of the SLR was definitely its special series “722 Edition”, which reminds one of the victory of the British car racing legend Stirling Moss and his co-pilot Dennis Jenkinson at the long-distance-classic Mille Miglia. The race number of the 300 SLR at the time was 722, which was issued in accordance with the starting time of 07:22 hrs. The duo of Moss/Jenkinson finished the 1,000-mile long distance race on public road in 10 hours, 7 minutes and 48 seconds, which at that time, meant an extremely high average of 157.65 k.p.h.

Compared with the performance values of today’s stars in the world of super sports cars, the SLR will unfortunately come across as slightly underpowered. With its 6.3 liter-large twelve cylinder engine, the hot-blooded LaFerrari for instance, unleashes a total of 800 horse power with an additional 163 horse power generated by an external electric motor. All-in-all, an unbelievable total of 963 horse power drags the axle driving shafts of the new Italian goddess. The British counterpart is called McLaren P1 and has a 3.8-liter V8 engine with 737 horse power, with an additional 179 horse power of the external electric motor providing a total of 916 horse power!

The high-class tuning specialists of Famous Parts from the German Rhine region of Ratingen close to Cologne endowed this Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster with a small but effective tuning upgrade. The exclusive American ADV.1 wheels are used in this respect in a combination of 20 inches in front and 21 inches in the rear. The wheel design of 5.2 MV2 SL stands out for its elegant spokes and extremely minimal own weight that is attributable to forging technology. The wheel has the special color “brushed silver” and was refined with a high-gloss clear varnish. To better impress the sensational driving performance on the road surface, Famous Parts installed a high-end chassis from the company KW automotive on the SLR, which can be adjusted three-fold and is an exclusive special manufacture. Not yet discernible on the photos: The technicians of Famous Parts intend to install a tailor-made titanium exhaust system with electronic valve control within the New Year.

Source: Famous Parts