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Despite being one of the world’s most recognisable high-performance car brands, as of the year 2000, McLaren only had one supercar to its name. In the brand’s defense, this one supercar was F1, which is still regarded as one of the greatest road cars of all time.
Following the F1, it wouldn’t be until 2010 to see another road car produced by McLaren, but just because it didn’t make any bespoke cars during this time doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a very busy brand.
Click here to view all Mercedes-Benz listings on DRIVEN
As a result of the Formula 1 partnership with Mercedes-Benz, the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren went on sale in 2003, and was inspired by the iconic 300 SLR that came out in 1955.
Like the iconic McLaren F1, this SLR was designed by Gordon Murray, and features some of the wildest styling seen to date on a Mercedes-Benz road car.
Despite these wild looks, you won’t find a V12 beneath the SLR’s bonnet, or even a V10, but instead, it gets a supercharged 5.5-litre V8 engine.
Though it might’ve been down on cylinders compared to the Aston Martin and Ferrari GT cars that it was competing with at the time, it more than made up for it with performance.
This V8 unit produced a massive 416kW and 720Nm, which was sent exclusively to the rear wheels through a five-speed automatic transmission. This allowed it to hit 100km/h in 3.4 seconds before topping out at 333km/h.
Just recently, a gorgeous black Roadster was listed on DRIVEN, with the seller claiming that it’s the only example currently in New Zealand.
With just under 5000km on the clock, it’s still in pristine condition, but you’re going to want to have deep pockets to take it home, as the seller is asking the better part of a million for it.
Click here to view the listing
Keyword: Iconic Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren emerges for sale in NZ