Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG

Mercedes has finally revealed the new 2009 Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Black Series. Based on the recently revised Benz SL65 AMG, the newly blackened version will now be Mercedes most powerful production car ever. With the finely tuned and double-turbocharged 6.0-liter V12 under the hood, power is up to an astonishing 661 HP with torque remaining at the already staggering 738 lb-ft. Expected to be priced in the range of $320,000, the SL65 AMG Black Series hits the Benz lineup as an indirect replacement for the McLaren-built SLR coupe. Want one? They won’t be easy to find.

The world’s newest hypercar, the Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG Black Series, is not only a guaranteed money loser for Mercedes, but a guaranteed success in terms of marketing and branding. From the local pub to the office water cooler, conversations about how great or how terrible it is will perpetuate for many years to come. So, it’s just as fitting that Mercedes launch a flashy (no pun intended) microsite in honor of the 661 hp monster.

2009 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class

Over the ensuing 53 years of its life, however, the SL designation has come to mean Sport-Luxury rather than Sport-Light, as more technology and creature comforts were crammed between the rails-to be fair to the original concept, mostly in response to a pampered American buyer who's gobbled up the lion's share of SL production. Engineering has fought a good battle against the resulting weight gains, but the SL came to be seen more often in a country club's parking lot than on a challenging back road...but that's not to demean the car's success. Its reputation as a luxurious boulevard cruiser is golden, but about the only time you'll read SL and sports car in the same sentence is in a company brochure or a biography of Stirling Moss.

The process of sporting up the SL began with a revised exterior that trades the soft lines of the outgoing model for a crisply creased, more masculine presence. The front section is completely new, its pronounced V-shaped nose and larger radiator grille accentuating forward thrust and wide stance, arguably the most dynamic visual elements of a sports car. The single-bar grille, side air outlets, and power domes in the hood link the new look to past SLs, but the steeply sloping front end and new bi-Xenon headlamp clusters, as well as larger side mirrors and new taillamps, help bring the SL into line with Mercedes's current design idiom. It's a big step beyond the understated, almost Q-ship approach of the recent past, but, important when dealing with a company treasure, the 2009 avoids any radical break from the SL's evolutionary path.