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Sportier Mercedes-Benz SL on sale in 2022

Developed by AMG, all-new model aims to bring back sporting edge to long-running SL name

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Mercedes-Benz has unveiled an all-new version of its SL roadster, designed and developed by its AMG performance subsidiary.

Development of the new SL was assigned to AMG as the parent company concentrates its resources on developing a new range of electric vehicles to ultimately replace its core passenger car line.

This also created the opportunity for Mercedes to reinvent the SL with a more sporting focus and the adoption of all-wheel-drive for the first time. The company claims that the car is going back to its roots, recalling the famous first-generation 300SL of the 1950s.

Best remembered for the gullwing coupé version, the 300SL was hugely successful on the world’s race circuits, and in roadster form was also a desirable road car. Subsequent generations quickly traded performance for comfort, and by the 1970s the SL had become a heavyweight cruiser.

In line with its sportier new focus, the latest SL is built on a new and lightweight aluminium platform, while the body shell is a composite mix of aluminium, steel, magnesium and carbon fibre. Mercedes says the new shell is 18% more torsionally rigid than the previous model.

The new car has also ditched the complex and weighty folding hard-top roof of the last two generations, returning to a traditional fabric soft top. This saves 21kg over previous hard tops and lowers the car’s centre of gravity, as well as being faster to open and close.

However, despite all of the performance-based changes, it will still be perfectly comfortable and relatively practical for everyday use, as Mercedes isn’t going to completely abandon its traditional SL customer base of the last 40 years.

As with most models since the 1970s, the new SL is offered as a 2+2 roadster, with two very small rear seats. As usual for this sort of vehicle, they are likely to be best used for extra storage space rather than actual passengers.

Mercedes-AMG models lead the rollout

Dubbed the Mercedes-AMG SL, there are two versions of the car at launch – the SL 55 and SL 63. It’s not clear whether regular ‘Mercedes-Benz’ models will follow in coming months.

Both launch versions of the car use a 4.0-litre V8 petrol engine with a choice of power outputs, either 476hp in the SL 55 model or 585hp in the SL 63. Both are matched to a nine-speed automatic transmission and, for the first time in an SL model, both are all-wheel drive rather than rear-wheel drive.

Mercedes says that a hybrid powertrain is under development for the SL and will offer the performance credentials of the existing engines.

The SL becomes the first Mercedes-AMG model to be fitted with a multi-link front axle, in similar format to the rear axle, while the more powerful SL 63 debuts a new computer-control active suspension system.

Also new to the car is rear-wheel steering – fitted as standard, the rear wheels angle slightly in the same direction as the fronts or in the opposite direction, depending on the speed of the car, to sharpen the handling response.

The new SL will go on UK sale early in 2022 – prices are yet to be announced but industry observers suggest they will be similar to the Mercedes-AMG GT roadster, which costs from just under £120,000.

Last hurrah for the Mercedes convertible?

The all-new SL arrives at a time when Mercedes-Benz is rationalising its convertible range, with most models facing an uncertain future as the company steers all its efforts into electric cars and yet more SUVs.

The smaller SLC (originally called the SLK) ended production last year after three generations and will not be replaced. This model traced its history back to the late 1990s and was the original folding hard-top convertible.

The S-Class and C-Class cabriolet models also completed their production cycles this year as part of the outgoing S-Class and C-Class families. There are not likely to be new coupé and cabriolet versions of the latest S-Class, while the future of the C-Class versions is not yet clear.

The Mercedes-AMG GT is still offered in a soft top, although this model is now in its twilight years and it is currently unknown whether the company intends to replace it. Any future version will almost certainly share its platform with this new SL.

Mercedes still offers the E-Class cabriolet, which is midway through its production cycle and expected to stick around for another three years or so. Beyond that, who knows?

Additional reporting by Stuart Masson

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Andrew Charman
Andrew Charman
Andrew is a road test editor for The Car Expert. He is a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and has been testing and writing about new cars for more than 20 years. Today he is well known to senior personnel at the major car manufacturers and attends many new model launches each year.