Gullwing starts car wars

The opening day of the Australian International Motor Show will see an unprecedented battle between two of the heavyweights of world motoring. Mercedes-Benz and Porsche are each going all-out with a pumped-up contender for car-of-the-show honours.

Ford and Mazda each has a global first at the show, revealing their shared versions of the T6 pickup developed at Ford Australia in Melbourne, but Porsche and Benz are going all-out at the top end of the car world.

The two brands are both air-freighting their hero cars to Sydney and their combined value is well over $1 million. But that's just a start for Benz, which will have cars worth more than $4 million on its stand and also has a one-off C63 sports sedan for the show.

The Benz blaster is a one-off SLS Gullwing called the Blackbird. It's named in honour of the Lockheed SR-71, one of the front-line aircraft of the Cold War era. The Blackbird was the ultimate in the days before stealth technology, flying so fast - beyond Mach 3, or 2200km/h - that it could outrun any rocket fired at it.

"Our Blackbird is pretty special too. It's painted in flat black and has some military-style orange highlights," says David McCarthy, spokesman for Mercedes-Benz Australia.

The 6.2-litre, V8-engined Blackbird was built at the AMG Performance Studio in Germany, which was also the birthplace of the bright orange C63 - called Jaffa - that will sit alongside it at the show.

"Australia is one of the biggest markets for AMG car anywhere in the world and we've had phenomenal support with these two cars," says McCarthy. "In the case of the SLS, the car has already been seen fairly widely so we wanted to do something special. That starts with the paint finish, black badges, a matt exhaust and some other tweaks. It will also have a special AIMS plaque, the same as the Jaffa."

McCarthy says the Jaffa car is a one-off but also shows what customers can order up from the Performance Studio in Germany.

"The Jaffa marks the introduction to Australia of the C63 Performance Pack. That comes with an extra 22 kiloWatts, larger front calipers and rotors from the E63, the sports locking differential, 19-inch alloys. The extra 22 kiloWatts is not simply a matter of chipping the engine. There are actually internal changes to the engine and some of those components are from the SLS."

McCarthy is coy about prices for the cars but admits they are well above the regular production models of the C63 and Gullwing.

"The price of the Blackbird will have a five in front of it. We haven't calculated the actual price yet," he says. "The Jaffa will have a two in front of it. A normal C63 is about $155,000."

Benz was hoping to have it's all-new CLS coupe at the show but ran out of time, although it will preview the Australian return of the heavyweight G-Wagen (correct) off-roader with a display of the G55.

"We advocated pretty strongly for one show and now there is just one, with the FCAI and VACC working together, we wanted to show our strong support," McCarthy says. "We've made an extra effort to give the people who come to the show a real feeling about the Mercedes-Benz brand."

Porsche is also renewing its commitment to the show and will have the GT2 RS under lights on its standard, together with a GT3 road rocket and the Carrera Cup racer that will return to Australian circuits in 2011 as the major supporting class to the V8 Supercar championship.

"The GT2 RS will be our hero car. We're air-freighting a car to Australia just for the event," says Paul Ellis, spokesman for Porsche Cars Australia. It's red, Guards Red which is the brightest colour we have It will stay in Australia after the show and could become a customer car. We're still waiting to hear."

The GT2 RS is the go-faster development of the turbocharged, rear- wheel drive GT2 which already sits at the top of the road car lineup at Porsche.

"The RS is the fastest and most powerful Porsche ever built with a number plate," says Ellis. "To put that into perspective, it's only 1370 kilograms in weight and has 456 kiloWatts - that's 620 horsepower - with 700 Newton-metres of torque. It goes to 100km/h in 3.5 seconds. Top speed is 330km/h."

The list of upgrades beyond the regular GT2 include carbon fibre for the bonnet and engine cover, giant 335x30 rear tyres on 19-inch alloy rims, and a trick cabin fit-out.

"Despite all that, its fuel consumption is 11.9 litres/100km and CO2 and 284 grams a kilometre. That puts it into Holden Commodore territory," says Ellis.

The bottom line for a potential buyer is $560,000, but that's no worry to the 10 cashed-up Australians who have already ensure the RS is a sellout down under.

"We have a very limited allocation from Porsche. We're looking at around 10 cars, perhaps even less than that, and they are already sold," says Ellis.

MERCEDES-BENZ SLS AMG

Price: $464,000
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Output: 420kW/650Nm
Economy: 13.3litres/100km
CO2 emissions: 311g/km
Transmission: Seven-speed double-clutch manumatic
Body: Two-door coupe
Seats: Two
Dimensions: Length 4638mm, width 2297mm, height 1262mm
Wheelbase: 2680mm, tracks 1682/1651mm front/rear
Steering: Power-assisted rack-and-pinion
Suspension: Fully independent, front wishbones and rear multi-link
Fuel tank: 85 litres
Fuel type: Premium unleaded
Weight: 1695 kg
Spare: Space saver
Brakes: Abs four-wheel discs
Wheels: 19-inch front, 20-inch rear alloy
Tyres: 265x35 front, 295x30 rear
Safety: Front-side-head-knee airbags, ABS, ESP.