61-mile Mercedes SLR McLaren Roadster for sale
Fight off the impending Artic blast with this delivery-mile substitute for a sun
By Cam Tait / Sunday, 26 November 2023 / Loading comments
Those in the fortunate position of buying their dream car from new will probably face the dilemma of choosing the right colour. Maybe you have your mind set on red, green or, if you’re the coolest of cool, some sort of purple. But when it comes to putting your order in, you remember that resale values exist, and although dark green metallic with tan leather seats is all you’ve dreamed about, black or silver or grey feels like a safer bet when it’s time to shift it on. And thus the circle of boring colours on used cars – especially German ones – continues indefinitely.
It therefore takes a particularly brave person to actually go through with speccing a colour other than resale silver, and though said spec may not be to everyone’s taste, the existence of such cars should be celebrated. And it’s hard to think of a more fitting example than this incredible Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster finished in Special Order Yellow with contrasting Red-Black soft top roof. We’ll let you decide whether or not the colour scheme works, but the method behind the madness may just bring you around to the idea of a yellow-over-red SLR drop-top.
If you haven’t had a dig through the image gallery yet, this (likely one-off) SLR looks to have drawn inspiration from the 300 SL Roadster. Yes, the shades are a little different, with the old SL’s yellow (Bisquitgelb, perhaps?) appearing a tad paler than the punchier hue on the SLR, but there will always be considerable appeal in modern cars ordered in classic colours – and this is no exception. The roof colour is a slight departure from the 300 SL, though the red leather interior could be considered a modern take on the brown hide inside the older model. Subtle it is not, but it’s one heck of a show-stopper.
Of course, the same could be said for any SLR. Fewer than half the total SLR production run were Roadsters, with just 570 drop tops built to 1,262 Coupes. Naturally, the Roadster was close to identical to the fixed roof, meaning you get the same thunderous 5.4-litre supercharged V8 with 626hp, 575lb ft of torque and a military-grade five-speed automatic gearbox to keep it all in check. The Roadster was obviously heavier than the fixed roof (by over 100kg), but the SLR was never a featherweight thing in the first place – much to the dismay of designer Gordon Murray.
Besides, this particular SLR at least gives the impression of lightweight-ness with carbon fibre bucket seats (in XL) and carbon all over the centre console. Best of all, there’s a Mercedes-branded Nokia telephone under the armrest, which is completely useless under modern driving laws – and even seems a touch dated by 2008 standards – but who doesn’t love a factory car phone?
The whole thing is in pristine condition too, because it’s never really been driven. Just 61 miles have been covered since the original owner took delivery in 15 years ago, which is wild given that the ad claims they forked out $573,000 (or over £450,000) to get their hands on it. How much you’ll have to pay requires a call to the seller, though given how strong SLR residuals are there’s a good chance this delivery-mile example may even command a premium. The original owner’s already done the difficult bit of speccing an interesting colour, leaving you to enjoy one of the most iconic supercars of the last 20 years as if it had just rolled off the production line. Yellow or not, it’s at least worth a call…
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