2008 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster on BaTBring a TrailerThis heavy-hitter two-seater combines haymaker V-8 power with carbon fiber construction.The SLR was jointly developed by Mercedes-Benz and McLaren in the early 2000s.A coupe and a roadster were produced, and this roadster model has just 6K miles on the odometer.Back in the mid-1990s, Mercedes-Benz owned a sizeable chunk of McLaren and, unlikely as that pairing might seem, the partnership worked pretty well. With Honda out of the picture, McLaren needed an engine supplier, and in 1998 and 1999, Mercedes-powered McLarens took flying Finn Mika Häkkinen to successive F1 championships. Surely, if this formula worked on the track, something special for the road could be arranged?Bring a TrailerIt could, and the resulting grand tourer par excellence has just turned up on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos), a 2008 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster. That's a long name, but then again, it's a pretty long car, a sort of Anglo-German Cyrano de Bergerac, with a big nose and acres of charisma.AdvertisementAdvertisementPerhaps unfairly, when this car was new, its mission statement seemed a little muddled. Everyone knows what a modern McLaren supercar is supposed to do; it's meant to be a technology-filled wonder that'll blow the doors off a Ferrari or Lamborghini at a track day. When this big bruiser arrived, onlookers could help but think of the mighty McLaren F1, and wonder what the deal was with the five-speed automatic gearbox.In retrospect, any confusion is dispelled. Like the big SL coupes that Mercedes had been building for decades, the SLR was intended to take luxury and infuse it with immense pace. It was a little bit like taking a wonderfully crafted leather chaise longue and fitting a couple of JATO rockets to the side. Does that not sound fun? It's basically the entire idea behind what Bentley does.Bring a TrailerAnointed by the hand of Gordon Murray—who was admittedly not that enthused about the project, preferring lighter fare—the SLR had a lot of carbon fiber in its construction, but still ended up weighing about 3800 pounds. Happily, the weight and aerodynamics combined to make it stable at speed, and it had a good old-fashioned wallop of V-8 power to get to that speed.The hand-built 5.4-liter V-8 features twin-screw supercharging and twin intercoolers, with a dry-sump lubrication system and maximum power of just under 620 horsepower at 6500 rpm. If you're counting, that's about the same as the McLaren F1's BMW-sourced V-12 made, but here the SLR got a dollop of maximum torque from just 3250 rpm, over a mesa-flat curve.Bring a TrailerThis was a very fast car in its day and remains so now, capable of running the quarter-mile in 11.5 seconds. This roadster variant was refined enough that it was claimed that two occupants could have a conversation in the cabin at above 124 mph without having to raise their voices. Possibly that conversation would involve the passenger asking the driver not to drive at double the speed limit. Dropping the top also invites the V-8 into the cabin with you, with its gloriously woofly soundtrack, like a friendly but bear-sized mastiff.Bring a TrailerThis example shows just 6000 miles on the odometer, and is finished in a quite elegant smoky silver with red upholstery and top. The doors open in a more theatrical way than the convertible versions of the later SLS, and the car as a whole has undeniable presence. The involvement of a winning F1 team in its construction is icing on a carbon-fiber cake.The auction ends on August 7.You Might Also LikeGift Guide: Best Ride-On Electric Cars for KidsFuture Cars Worth Waiting For: 2025–2029
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