Mercedes-Benz introduced a limited series for the McLaren SLR named Stirling Moss, honoring the famous British racing driver.
When Mercedes-Benz introduced the 300 SLR, it needed victories to get more media attention. Stirling Moss provided that when he won the 1955 Mille Miglia driving that race car for the German carmaker. Later that year, he repeated the performance at the Targa Florio race. Sir Stirling Moss was regarded as “the greatest racing driver that never won a Formula 1 championship.” But his victories remained untamed by any shadow of a doubt as being one of the greatest drivers of all times. Mercedes-Benz created a unique roadster: the McLaren SLR Stirling Moss, in 2009. Sir Moss died eleven years later in 2020.

After introducing the SLR as a coupe and as a roadster, the sky was the limit, and Mercedes-Benz realized what to do with the open-top convertible. It simply cut the A-pillars, the windshield and created a legendary roadster for two, with two tall roll-bars behind the seats. To protect the occupants from wind, Mercedes-Benz installed two small windscreens in front of the cockpit. Moreover, if the driver drove alone, the other seat could have been closed with a lid.

The cockpit featured a pair of sport bucket seats with high bolstering areas. Between them, the carmaker installed a carbon fiber center console where it placed the gear-selector. In front of the driver, Mercedes-Benz installed an instrument panel with individual clusters for speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, and coolant temperature.

Under the hood, the McLaren SLR Stirling Moss featured a special tuned 5.4-liter supercharged V-8 that sent the rear wheels’ power via a five-speed automatic transmission. Mercedes-Benz built only 75 roadsters.

The McLaren looked like a concept car brought into production.
Nobody expected to look so similar to the 2004 prototype that was shown at the North American International Auto Show.

The series model was introduced in late 2002 and looked very similar to the concept car. The McLaren SLR was built using Formula 1 technology such as carbon-fiber underbody safety systems, special aluminum alloys, and active aerodynamic systems. Then, the roadster showed up in 2007.

The roadster version featured the same front and rear end, but a different cockpit. Its soft-top was retractable in 10 seconds, but it needed manual unlatching. It lost some of the structural rigidity, but it gained in the look department. It was a true roadster with the pedigree taken from the glorious Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR from 1955.

To climb inside the car, the door was opened upwards. The side sill was wide, like the one in the 300 SLR Gullwing. The interior featured a combination of aluminum, carbon-fiber, and leather. The start-button was under a cover on top of the gearshift lever, like in a fighter-jet.

Under the hood, there was the same 5.5-liter supercharged V8 engine. It was mated to the 5G-Tronic gearbox, but fitted with different software and badged as an AMG Speedshift R gearbox.

Nobody expected to look so similar to the 1999 prototype that was shown at the North American International Auto Show.
The series model was introduced in late 2002 and looked very similar to the concept car. The McLaren SLR was built using Formula 1 technology such as carbon-fiber underbody safety systems, special aluminum alloys, and active aerodynamic systems. Then, the roadster showed up in 2007.

The car was built at the TAG McLaren facilities in Woking, the U.K. It featured a lightweight construction using Formula 1 technology. The carbon-fiber structure and the active aerodynamic were developed for the F1 racing cars and they were installed on the SLR. It was the most sophisticated sports car ever built to then. Under hard braking, an aerodynamic brake was released from the top of the trunk-lid, like a fixed parachute. The light-alloy wheel design was specific for that model and they looked like a turbine. It wasn’t only for the show, they were extracting the air from the wheel-wells and helped to cool the brakes.

To climb inside the car, the door was opened upwards. The side sill was wide, like the one in the 300 SLR Gullwing. The interior featured a combination of aluminum, carbon-fiber, and leather. The start-button was under a cover on top of the gearshift lever, like in a fighter-jet.

Under the hood, there was a 5.5-liter supercharged V8 engine. It was mated to the 5G-Tronic gearbox, but fitted with different software and badged as an AMG Speedshift R gearbox.

Introduced in 2006, the exclusive 722 edition brought forth a few new interior style elements and a steroid-pumped engine with increased power and torque outputs of 650 hp and 820 Nm respectively.
Named after Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson’s victory in the 1955 Mille Miglia race with an MB 300SLR bearing the 722 staring number, this special edition car also features new 19” alloys, a retuned suspension for a firmer ride and a lower ground clearance. Larger brake pads were added as well to match the car’s unearthly acceleration time of just 3.6 secs from 0 to 62 mph.