Auto & Car Blog

Filed under: Auction Action, Supercars, Mercedes-Benz

It’s the end of the run for the McLaren SLR Roadster, but Mercedes wants to give Yanks another shot at owning one. Beginning November 1, those of you who still have bank accounts can sign up for the auction of the final topless SLR to be sold in the U.S.

You’d be right to assume the final edition of a limited run model would bring a huge premium when it goes on the block, as collectors have always put higher values on the first and last of most anything. But if you plan to take this particular knick-knack home, prepare to drain both savings accounts. Mercedes says the car will be the only SLR Roadster wearing Sienna Pearl metallic paint and Tobacco Brown leather. So when you show up to accept your Oscar, no one else will be driving the same one.

The auction begins November 20 at 1 p.m. EST and ends that night at 5 p.m. Bidding starts at $529,500, and anything above that will go to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Thanks for the tip, James!

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Filed under: Convertibles, Coupes, Sports/GTs, Paris Motor Show, Supercars, Mercedes-Benz, Special/Limited Editions

Certain cars encourage a response that is as routine and predictable as the reaction to a stoplight, and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 S Roadster is one of those cars. This is what happens every time someone gets in one, irrespective of their age, sex, or nationality: she snuggles into the seat, looks into the footwell to make sure her feet are placed just so on the pedals, slides her hands around the steering wheel for a couple of seconds to find just the right position, snuggles into the seat again… and then she just sits there, staring off into the distance. She might flip the paddles once or twice, or check out the center console. Then it’s back to the thousand yard stare at the wall in front of her. She gets her picture taken, notices the line of people waiting to do the same thing, and it’s all repeated again and again. And for good reason - the SLR McLaren 722 S Roadster is topless testosterone-topped terrificality. 650 horsepower from a supercharged 5.5L V8 and a convertible soft top that’ll stay put above 208 mph deserves the attention. You can check out the specs after the jump, or better yet, go straight to the gallery of high-res images below that we snapped in between the line of people waiting to sit in it.

Continue reading Paris 2008: Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 S Roadster

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Filed under: Motorsports, Government/Legal

Lewis Hamilton does not have good luck in France. Of all the races he’s won in these past two seasons, he’s yet to take the checkered flag at the French Grand Prix, has had his license revoked by the French gendarmes, and has now had his appeal thrown out of court in Paris.

Following the Belgian Grand Prix earlier this month, Hamilton was penalized by the race stewards with a 25-second penalty (in lieu of a pit-lane drive-through penalty) that bumped him down from first place to third, and allowed Ferrari’s Felipe Massa to close the lead down to one single point. The penalty was given to Hamilton for having cut through a chicane on the Spa-Francorchamps track called the “bus stop”, which race officials ruled gave him an illegal advantage. Hamilton’s team McLaren decided to appeal the penalty in the FIA’s court in Paris, however the court threw out the case as inadmissible, quoting sporting regulations that stipulate that drive-through penalties cannot be appealed. McLaren presented precedent from a repealed penalty handed to Toro Rosso in Japan last year, however the court of appeal was adamant in their refusal to hear the case.

A brief statement from the FIA can be found after the jump, and those interested can read the full 8-page ruling by clicking here.

[Source: Autosport | Photo: Oliver Laban-Mattei/Getty]

Continue reading McLaren appeal over Hamilton penalty thrown out of FIA court

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Filed under: Motorsports, Euro, Marketing/Advertising, Videos

We know that McLaren has a sense of humor, we simply never know when it’s going to reveal itself. Happily for us, the team has decided it’s time to laugh again. The Singapore Grand Prix, on September 28, is the first Formula 1 race at night, and team CEO Martin Whitmarsh gives us a little insight into McLaren’s preparations. This is the kind of silly season that makes sense. Follow the jump for the video. Thanks for the tip, Peter!

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading VIDEO: McLaren makes a Singapore Sling Zing

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Filed under: Motorsports, Sports/GTs, Supercars, Mercedes Benz

Now that’s more like it. The best Renault could seem to offer their driving ace Fernando Alonso was a Renaultsport Megane after winning two back-to-back world championships. But now that the defending champ has switched over the McLaren-Mercedes, his patrons have awarded him more suitable wheels: the 650-horsepower Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722, a special edition of the supercar of which only 150 are being made. This, apparently, comes as a special treat in addition to the beautiful Mercedes CLS four-door coupe which will reportedly serve as Fernando’s daily driver. Not too shabby. Not too shabby at all.

No word yet on what Ferrari will give their new wonderboy Kimi Raikkonen, but it’d be a blast to see Kimi in a 599 GTB square off against Fernando in his SLR McLaren. Oh well, we’ll just have to watch them duke it out in Formula One race cars instead. This should be an interesting season.

[Source: Motor Authority]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

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Filed under: Convertibles, Supercars, Mercedes Benz

We’ve known for a while that Mercedes was hard at work on a drop-top version of the McLaren SLR and now, courtesy of Car and Driver, we get to see it. Clear images they aren’t, but there’s no mistaking that long bonnet and those wide haunches as a lesser Benz.

The spies were able to capture the SLR during a photo shot in the Canary Islands and judging by the pics, there’s little to no change from the standard hardtop version. According to C&D, the roadster will get a cloth roof, rather than a folding hardtop, in an effort to cut down on costs and there’s a possibility that the butterfly doors may need to be nixed.

Regardless, with 617 HP, a 3.7-second sprint to 60 and a top speed of 207 MPH, there’s no doubt that this will be the fastest open air motoring experience available. The only problem we can see is trying to not look like the victim of a blow-dryer accident after a quick run to redline.

The when and where is still up in the air, but don’t expect the SLR roadster to come in below a cool half a million dollars.

[Source: Car and Driver]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

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Filed under: New York Auto Show, Time Warp, Coupes, Buick

Sure, most of the folks here at the NYIAS are interested primarily in the stuff that hasn’t yet appeared in showrooms, but one of our favorite cars of the show was a twenty-year-old gem tucked off in a corner on the lower floor. What you see here in these photos is a genuine 1987 Buick GNX with all of 45 miles on the clock - a near-virgin example of a car that was a bit of a dinosaur even back in its day. The dated G-body platform was in its last year, and so McLaren and ASC were called in to give it a proper send-off.

What the GNX lacked in chassis sophistication was more than compensated by the highly-pressurized pushrod V6 under the hood and its electronic controls. The flares and sixteen-inch snowflake wheels only increased the sinister stance of the black two-door, but still did little to convey the performance potential of this machine. It was the beginning of the end of an era at GM, and eventually the neutering of individual brands killed off these acts of intracorporation rebellion.

Two decades ago, this thing stickered for a touch over $29K - or just shy of $54,000 in today’s money. The odds of such a freak occurrence happening in Buick showrooms again are probably somewhat less than the likelihood of this exact vehicle ending up in our garage, we reckon. So what’s the real Super Buick at this show?
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

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Filed under: Lifestyle

Lewis Hamilton is finding that there’s more to life than being a really, really ridiculously good driver. Like male modeling. While we don’t think Lewis will make a career of it, he actually did a pretty good job posing for the new McLaren shoe line recently launched as part of its lifestyle collection. The line includes four different shoes, from a laced shoe suitable for everyday use to full driving boots. Interestingly, none of the shots show him actually wearing the shoes on his feet, but we don’t think that was the point. So now we have to ask… who would win in a walk-off? Lewis Hamilton or Fernando Alonso?

[Source: McLaren]

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