Reviews at Automotive

It is a spiritual successor to the fabled 300SL gullwing coupe of 1954-57, although it does not possess such memorable doors, using front-mounted scissor ones instead of gullwings. It was conceived as a roadgoing version of the company’s racer which won the 1997 and 1998 GT championships. Homologation required that just one road car should be made, but Mercedes-Benz, which approved the project in March 1997, decided to build a ’small quantity’ for private customers. The first of the strictly two-seater coupes was delivered in November 1998 with the last of 25 examples being finished in the summer of 1999.

Built in batches of three, each taking four to six weeks to complete, the work was undertaken by AMG at its factory at Ludwigsburg near Stuttgart. Since 1998 AMG had been Mercedes-Benz’s inhouse performance arm. The car only differed in detail from the track-ready GTRs. The Kevlar bodyshell was reinforced, the suspension retuned to increase the ride height, and 18in (457mm) wheels were fitted. Inside there were sports seats, three-point safety belts, twin air bags, and an integrated roll cage.