The 2010 successor to Gullwing ... what's the most recent?

[Guest caysman]

Any updates on this baby? Most exciting thing out of Merc in the past 20 years ....

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/supercars/preview-mercedes%E2%80%99-300-sl-gullwing-successor/

[g8crasher]

that is so reminiscent of a 997 911!! well the top half anyway. SLR gills.. mmm..

[Guest kopimonster]

great looking car

[Guest caysman]

Mercedes without Chrysler, this is the way to go. All the way back to the old way of doing business, sell few cars, exciting and passionate cars. Up the exclusivity, target the highest demographic. Basically the same people Ferrari targets, but older guys only. Leverage the history and the Mercedes feeling.

Yes this is like the 997 911, but really, the resemblance is just because the 997 911 is modelled after the desirable shapes of yesteryear, with a dovetail instead of a cab forward look. I'm sure Mercedes has enough tradition not to ape the other guy from Stuttgart.

[Guest angela]

That's a beautiful car man

[Guest Sareve]

Wow! Let's hope they produce RHD versions of this, Mercedes has a very horrible habit only producing LHD versions of their highest end cars.

[Guest caysman]

Japanese people will love this historical looking car with new mechanicals like Misuoka. Merc will have their biggest market in Japan for this one. So they gotta make it RHD if they're smart.

[Guest 9339]

This is a nice Gullwing, but a little small, it could be perfect if it is longer.

[Guest jenvid]

But the states is traditionally Merc biggest sector, i am keeping my fingers crossed. kekeke as if I have the dough to lay my hands on one wakaka. :whip2:

[Guest Sareve]

Japanese people will love this historical looking car with new mechanicals like Misuoka. Merc will have their biggest market in Japan for this one. So they gotta make it RHD if they're smart.

You're right about that, I just returned from Japan, the most popular continental car I've seen there are Mercs by far, and they are all high cc mercs, all 500 and above. They don't have to make it a RHD to sell it in Japan though, LHD cars are allowed there and are actually quite popular. We can only hope the Sultan of Brunei custom builds a RHD version and gets bored of it quickly and sells it :thumbsup:

[Guest millionmilebenz]

Very exciting-looking... The SLR gills and side profile actually reminds me slightly of Chrysler Crossfire. Oops, did I say something sacrilegious?! :death: Hahahaha

Also, it seems the Merc brand essence now resides in the headlamps?

[Guest caysman]

Interesting insight, MMB...

Where is the brand essence in this?

For me I think the side panel detailing, don't ask me why, but when I see that, I see every new Merc there is and remember the gullwing too....

[Guest millionmilebenz]

Haha caysman, this can be an endless and fun discussion since Merc is probably one of the first companies that really understood the power of brand essence and got it right. I'm very "old-school" when it comes to Merc, and in the past the grille was the key place where the Merc brand essence was manifested - good choice IMHO since that's the front-and-centre feature that grabs your initial attention when you look at a car. While that continues to be the case in newer models, its importance has been de-emphasized due to other marques also coming up with imposing and distinctive grilles.

To me the headlights seem to be carrying more and more of the brand identity nowadays. I guess that's the next best choice since those are the eyes of the car and still one of the first things that we focus on. The eyes on this prototype looks remarkably close to W211. You may have noticed that our club logo is also taken from the lines of the W211 with the headlights being the central feature (credit to HomerRipper for the beautiful design).

I think Merc is now trying to create separate brand essence for "luxury" vs "sporty" vs "family". Agree with you that the side panel does carry on certain definitive details for the higher-range sporty models.

The gullwing was a coup for Merc! It was only produced on 1 model 50 years ago yet it has remained firmly associated with Merc in the minds of car enthusiasts... :thumbsup:

[Guest caysman]

MMB, one of my favourite cars was the 220SEB, and my family imported used Mercs from all over the place in the past, only to spend a fortune buying parts from Stuttgart to restore them. Those were the days when we were very free, and now since the older people have retired, they're more busy than ever and driving Lexuses for convenience and reliability.

The last old merc to go was the Pagoda SL, which really brought a tearful eye to ... the ladies, actually. It was a poor excuse for a sports car but it looked great, and the dash was incomparable.

Looking forward, no more old mercs for me. The profit margins of today can't sustain them, at least for us. And we can't easily import old cars anymore. What I'm really looking forward is for Merc to put the Dieseotto into the middle of a lightweight chassis and go head to head against Porsche entry level. The SLK didn't make it.

[g8crasher]

Just thought I'd put this up for the benefit of members who aren't cued in to the legendary classic SL300 Gullwing. This side by side comparison will have you instantly recognize the key design elements that have been retained in the new Gullwing.

caysman thank you for sharing a little bit of your magical family association with Mercedes-Benz automobiles with us! I can't believe what I'm reading - A Pagoda SL in Singapore!?!

[Guest caysman]

Not Singapore, Malaysia. Half my family there.

IN SG got lot of Pagoda I saw, isn't it?

[g8crasher]

Insert Quote

Not Singapore, Malaysia. Half my family there.

IN SG got lot of Pagoda I saw, isn't it?

Pardon my ignorance but the only Pagoda I've seen was listed some time ago in the local classifieds! Couple that with the fact that I hardly venture anywhere else (other than commuting between the office and home) and you'll figure why I don't see any Pagoda's around here.

The last Pagoda I saw online had classic plates on. That leaves me with 30 out of 365 days to possibly catch the bugger. :spiderman: I must train my spidersense.

[Guest millionmilebenz]

MMB, one of my favourite cars was the 220SEB...

That car is simply a dream! Never seen one up close, only photos including this one (a 280 SEb) which set us drooling....

... and my family imported used Mercs from all over the place in the past, only to spend a fortune buying parts from Stuttgart to restore them...

Kudos to your family for doing so! I'm sure it was not the most profitable thing to do in business but your family have brought some working pieces of art on to the roads of Singapore. I'll always remember this guy that I saw long ago driving a perfect W108 example (white, of course), and the smile on his face said it all. For those who dig the bygone age of elegance, owning a classic Merc is having time-travel on demand. :thumbsup:

[Guest millionmilebenz]

Just thought I'd put this up for the benefit of members who aren't cued in to the legendary classic SL300 Gullwing. This side by side comparison will have you instantly recognize the key design elements that have been retained in the new Gullwing.

Wow Homer once you put these 2 side by side, the resemblance is truly unmistakeable!

[Guest caysman]

Kudos to your family for doing so! I'm sure it was not the most profitable thing to do in business but your family have brought some working pieces of art on to the roads of Singapore. I'll always remember this guy that I saw long ago driving a perfect W108 example (white, of course), and the smile on his face said it all. For those who dig the bygone age of elegance, owning a classic Merc is having time-travel on demand. :thumbsup:

Basket, MMB, the way you talk makes me wet man ... the W108 got its own little site: http://www.w108.org/

The restorations were done for love. Each car took perhaps average of 1 year to do up. I never would do it myself but the old guys in the family had lots of patience and tolerance for wallet pain ....

YOu know, the outside of the classic merc is just to show off to people, the true charm of the car is when you get in, the period smells, the beautiful dashboard craftsmanship, the feel of pseudo-ivory on the steering, all makes tears come to one's eyes....

[g8crasher]

My brain associates the smell of Brylcream with the classic Mercedes interior... comforting! Wah kao now you guys have pressed the button leow. Time to dig up old pictures!!!

[Guest millionmilebenz]

caysman ]

YOu know, the outside of the classic merc is just to show off to people, the true charm of the car is when you get in, the period smells, the beautiful dashboard craftsmanship, the feel of pseudo-ivory on the steering, all makes tears come to one' wrote:

Can't agree with you more! It's a total sensory thing and smell is damn important as HomerRipper said!

My biggest fetish is with the steering wheel, and I'm not alone! (see quotes below from a thread last year...)

kepiting1sg ]

millionmilebenz ]

kepiting1sg ]

If I see the original steering wheel, I will wet my pants for sure!......whahahaha! wrote:

You mean like thiiiisss? I' wrote:

http://sgmerc.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach wrote:

Ya lor! Ya lor!

My pants all wet liao!...happy!.......wakakaka! sipeh swee! really classic! ;D

[Guest wc]

Any updates on this baby? Most exciting thing out of Merc in the past 20 years ....

if i didn't remember wrongly from reading from some car magazine i think "autosport" or something like that, that is the new supercar McLaren and Mercedes are working on, they estimate it coming out in 2011...

[Guest Mike]

omg its just so nice... =)