Click Thumbnails to Enlarge

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Mercedes-Benz SLC dancing in the snow

By Tim Pollard

11 December 2007 15:44

There is life after the McMerc SLR. We’ve caught Mercedes’ next supercar – the SLC – on test in the icy snows of Scandinavia. Under the bodged Dodge Viper bodywork of this test mule lie the innards of the SLC, which promises to fly Merc’s performance flag into the next decade.

There's no McLaren link this time, so who's helping Merc build it?

Instead of teaming up with McLaren this time, Mercedes is relying on its inhouse expertise in Germany. The AMG performance wing and HWA race team is developing the hard-core SLC. The latter runs the company’s DTM touring car outfit from its base in Affalterbach, and is used to converting sensible roadgoing Mercs into weapon-grade track cars.

It won't look like a Viper, but what will it look like?

Insiders talk of seeking inspiration from the 300SL Gullwing – one of the most hyped Mercs of all time – and it might even ape the 1955 car’s eponymous lift-up doors. We’ll know more when we see a concept car in 2008, possibly as early as the Geneva Motor Show according to some reports. However, CAR thinks an autumn debut is more likely.