Mercedes-Benz SLS-Class 2014 News

We have seen hybrid cars, supercars, electric cars and even a tiny three-seat city runabout from Gordon Murray in Britain, a man who made his name and fame designing world championship winning grand prix cars for Brabham and McLaren. What's most surprising is that the Frankfurt show does not begin until the back end of next week. Still, that has not stopped the world's carmakers doing major teases and even major previews ahead of the official opening of Europe's biggest car show of 2009. This week we have first pictures and details of the Mercedes-Benz SLS, while BMW Group has already revealed its plug-in diesel-electric hybrid concept car and shown the Mini coupe it will soon put into production. We have also had teasers on an electric Audi R8 and some special green cars from Volkswagen, and even a Peugeot version of Mitsubishi's plug-in iMiEV, which will become Australia's first commercially-available electric car before the end of the year. It's big news and surprising stuff at a time when the world is still crawling back from the global economic meltdown and the organisers of the Tokyo Motor Show in October - which traditionally tries to trump Frankfurt - are talking-down their 2009 event. Follow Paul Gover on Twitter!

The first official flight of the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG begins this week, although it will not reach cruising altitude until production reaches top gear next year following a preview on the opening day of the Frankfurt Motor Show in a fortnight.The German supercar is already confirmed with a soaring pricetag beyond $500,000 and now Benz has revealed the road-ready car and its full technical specification.The obvious highlight is the upward-opening 'gullwing' doors that - like the front-end styling - take their inspiration from the classic Mercedes SL coupe of the 1950s. But the 21st century gullwing is a thoroughly modern machine with an aluminium space-frame body, a 420 kiloWatt V8 engine set just ahead of the two-seater cabin, 19-inch front and 20-inch rear alloys, and AMG's first seven-speed dual-clutch manu-matic transmission.Much of the early talk about the gullwing — no-one seriously expects it to be called the SLS - is about the styling, from the unique doors to the fifties-inspired air intakes and the muscular way the body is wrapped around the wheels. But the GLS is an AMG road rocket and that means it is a genuine supercar with a top speed which has to be held back to 317km/h and a 0-100km/h sprint time of 3.8 seconds. In some ways the SLS AMG is a successor to the McLaren-Mercedes SLR, but it is around one-third of the price and is a full-on Benz production, not a collaboration with its Formula One partner."The obvious difference is that the SLS is available in right-hand drive. So we have an allocation of 50 cars in the first year, in a total production run of around 1200 cars," says David McCarthy, spokesman for Mercedes-Benz Australia."One thing the SLR demonstrated was technology, and it was a step along the road to this car. The SLR was a joint effort, but the SLS is entirely a product of AMG and Mercedes, so it's one company. It's a demonstration, more than anything else, of what the company can do."Customers are already lined up in Australia for the first gullwings, which are expected to land in the first quarter of next year and to feature at the exclusive AMG drive day held at Albert Park on the Australian Grand Prix circuit. "Yes, we are holding sizeable deposits on the car. We have orders currently for five cars and we think the biggest problem is that our allocation will not be big enough," McCarthy says. "We do not have the final price yet but it will be competitive in the class. Companies like Ferrari and others make supercars, but we're talking a production run of around 1200 cars and that's pretty serious numbers."Mercedes spent a lot of time ensuring the gullwing is both fast and refined, a major criticism of the track-tuned SLR. It still weighs 1620 kilograms and the seats are only 369mm above the road, but the seat backs are made from magnesium, there is a useable glovebox and a Bang&Olufsen surround sound system. "It is unmistakably a Mercedes. There is an awful lot of 300SL in the design, but it is not a copy. It is a homage, but it moves the history along," says McCarthy."When we specified the cars there were two items we've made standard - the fitted car cover and the trickle charger. It means the car can sit in the garage and be ready for instant action."Carsguide will have a first drive of the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG in November. For more pictures and full details of the car go to www.carsguide.com.au 

But what do you call a gullwing without its gullwing doors? Officially the car is going to be called the Mercedes SLS anyway when it is revealed in production form at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month, ahead of sales from the first half of 2010. There have been many pictures of the SLS, including some official leaks from Benz headquarters in Germany, but now Carparazzi has caught a car which is likely to become the SLS convertible. It is pictured at a small mining town in Nevada, USA during a trip which saw three SLS test cars - two gullwing coupes and the single convertible - also pass by Monterey in California. Carparazzi believes the California sweep could have been a press tease by Benz, as the three cars stopped briefly outside a hotel where motoring journalists were attending another launch event. The latest pictures show Mercedes is slowly removing the camouflage over the SLS, with more of the lights, grille and air intakes now on view. The convertible pictures reveal a powered soft top roof, not a metal cabrio roof, with conventional doors in place of the gullwings. European sources say the convertible version of the SLS is at least two years away from sale, although it could easily follow the gullwing coupe with a motor show tease, most likely at the Detroit Motor Show in January.