Mercedes-Benz SLR 5.4 V8 McLaren

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Body styleCoupé
TransmissionAutomatic
Mileage57624 km
Year2004
VAT / MarginMargin
  • Perfectly maintained
  • Over € 57500 invested in maintenance
Price on request

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The SLR McLaren is a masterpiece. A good wine that took some years to mature to perfection. Mercedes-Benz presented the Vision SLR in 1999. In order to turn the concept car into a usable car, the project was transferred to McLaren, of which Mercedes-Benz was a shareholder at the time. More specifically, the project ended up with Mr Gordon Murray, spiritual father of the sublime McLaren F1. The Vision SLR was at odds with everything Murray stands for. The packaging of the car was not good, the design was difficult and the proportions made it difficult to achieve the predetermined goals. A long period began for Murray, flying to Stuttgart every week to meet with people from Mercedes-Benz to convince them of how the car should be developed. The final result of those long negotiations is here before you in the form of the Mercdes-Benz SLR McLaren. The SLR came out around the same time as the Ferrari Enzo and the Porsche Carrera GT. Although at the time the press liked to compare the SLR with the Enzo and the Carrera GT, they were not the best competitors in the eyes of Mercedes-Benz. That’s not to say that the SLR went under during tests on circuits where both other cars had already set, quite the contrary. The SLR held its own well. The SLR had to be an accessible hypercar, get in, quietly leave the street, drive to the Autobahn in peace, get your foot in the carpet, really leave everything on the street behind you and go home in peace.

Connoisseurs of this type of car know what it is all about. An extremely low mileage might be nice for a drink, but if the car in this case has merely stood still and has not been maintained, then nasty surprises often await. You are better off with one that has been used regularly and maintained to the strict lettering of the Mercedes-Benz law. That is definitely the case in this case. The previous owner bought this 2004 car in 2012 and has driven the car for almost 12,000 kilometers since then. The SLR was neatly brought to a certified Mercedes-Benz dealer in the Netherlands every year and provided with the prescribed maintenance. It was obvious that the SLR should have lacked for nothing, because the invoices read like a boy’s book. In total, the Mercedes-Benz dealer invoiced the previous owner €57,586.49 for the pleasure of having an SLR on the bridge. The technical condition of this SLR can therefore only be described as impeccable. Of course, all invoices of the maintenance are present, but more about that later.

The most striking thing about this SLR is that it is one of the few black copies. The body is in beautiful condition. The body is completely made of carbon to keep the weight low. The chassis consists of a carbon fiber tub and aluminum frames and is fully glued. Both chassis and body are of course completely damage-free and look beautiful. The up-hinged doors open and close exactly as they should. The car is fitted with the original turbine wheels that were repainted last year and fitted with the correct Michelin tires in the correct sizes. When we see the car, we can only say that the design of the SLR has more than stood the test of time. It is a powerfully lined car.

The interior is made of the same cloth. The sills are wide because they are part of the carbon fiber base. The buttons and controls may look vaguely familiar to you from other Mercedes-Benz models of the time. Yet the interior is unique. You will not find the wide sills, the way in which the buttons for opening the doors and the seat adjustment are mounted in any other Mercedes-Benz car. Dae seats are made of carbon and are very comfortable. In this case, the seats are upholstered in red nappa leather, as is the rest of the interior. The top of the dashboard is of course black. The interior is just like the exterior and the technology in absolute top condition. The leather is beautifully supple and well cared for everywhere. The headlining is made of gray Alcantara and gives a pleasant spacious feeling. The counters are partly digital and completely match the period in which this car was developed. Still, the most eye-catching feature of the SLR is the start button on top of the gear selector.

The drivetrain is, of course, the star of the show. The supercharged V8 rumbles beautifully from the side-mounted exhausts and is very powerful. The 5.4 liter 90 degree V8 engine produces 626 hp and 780 newton meters and is forced to be coupled to an automatic transmission because Mercedes-Benz had no other transmission available at that time that could handle the enormous torque of the engine. Initially Murray wanted to equip the SLR with a V12 engine and a

manual gearbox. Besides the fact that a V12 simply would not fit, the management of Mercedes-Benz was also completely against the arrival of a manual transmission. That’s not to say the V8 isn’t a good fit for the car. It’s one hell of an engine with a brilliant soundtrack and an unrelenting mountain of torque. The SLR is a bizarrely fast car even by today’s standards. It only takes 3.8 seconds from 0-100 and the top speed is 334 kilometers per hour. There was not much to say about the performance at the time, they were fine. However, the press couldn’t really get used to the five-speed automatic transmission. The Enzo had a six-speed semi-automatic and the Carrera GT even had a six-speed manual transmission. However, with our current knowledge, we can only conclude that the automatic transmission fits the character of the car better than we could have foreseen at the time. What also helps is the automatic transmission can also be switched manually via buttons on the steering wheel. The SLR is equipped with brake by wire technology. Smooth braking takes some getting used to. Thankfully, the SLR’s stopping power is just as impressive as its acceleration. The brakes are more than well suited to their task and, if necessary, are also assisted by an air brake. The spoiler at the rear of the SLR can fold up to form an air brake. The underside of the SLR is completely flat to promote airflow and downforce. The side-mounted exhausts are therefore not a “design gimmick” but a necessity. The way in which the engine, exhausts and transmission are mounted in the car is a feast for the eyes for technology enthusiasts. It helps to keep the air resistance low and the Cw value of the SLR is therefore only 0.374, very good for a car of this size and also helps to keep the car stable at high speed.

Finally, we need to go into a little more detail about the maintenance that has been carried out. The previous owner bought the SLR with a mileage of 45,821 kilometers. The counter is now at 57,624 kilometers. The SLR has been well maintained for the past 9 years according to the Mercedes-Benz maintenance schedule. All maintenance invoices are present with the car. The overview of the maintenance performed therefore looks like this:

Date Amount Mileage
23-8-2012 €11,357.44 45821
16-10-2013 €880.31 48563
23-7-2014 €19.95 50156
18-9-2014 €1,054.88 50156
7-11-2014 € 3,183.87 50156
11-6-2015 € 2,690.87 50156
26-6-2015 €462.01 50822
12-11-2015 € 1,823.17 52227
14-4-2016 € 254.78 52228
4-7-2016 € 1,110.37 52924
26-1-2017 € 7,904.25 53213
3-7-2017 € 84.81 54020
21-12-2017 €543.94 54302
20/04/2018 € 1,728.26 54567
04/09/2018 €2,117.67 54804
03/05/2019 € 3,166.06 55187
6/21/2019 € 232.76 56729
24-6-2019 € 29.95 56818
14-9-2021 € 18,941,14 57590
Total: € 57,586.49 11769

In short, a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren in excellent condition in a rare colour.
Gallery Aaldering is Europe’s leading Classic Cars specialist since 1975! Always 400 Classic and Sportscars in stock, please visit www.gallery-aaldering.com for the current stock list (all offered cars are available in our showroom) and further information. We are located near the German border, 95 km from Düsseldorf and 90 km from Amsterdam. So easy traveling by plane, train, taxi and car. Transport and worldwide shipping can be arranged. No duties/import costs within Europe. We buy, sell and provide consignment sales (selling on behalf of the owner). We can arrange/provide registration/papers for our German (H-Kennzeichen, TÜV, Fahrzeugbrief, Wertgutachten usw.) and Benelux customers. Gallery Aaldering, Arnhemsestraat 47, 6971 AP Brummen, The Netherlands. Tel: 0031-575-564055. Quality, experience and transparency is what sets us apart. We look forward to welcoming you in our showroom

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