Well I made the 400 round mile trip from Boston to NY (as I have done for the past 5 yrs) to visit the auto show. Main attraction for me was the SL 55....looked great, and I liked the video they had running in the background showing some of the cars features. The car at the show was silver with what looked like the ash interior, on the video though the car was silver/berry, looked incredible, that will definatley be the combo I go for if I decide to go the SL 55 route. The information posted on the SL 55 stand said the options for the car would be the following : parktronic, distronic, bi-xenons, panorama roof, tire pressure monitoring system and keyless go....no mention of active seats, I think they will come standard....also the information noted that the car had excess of 493 hp not 476hp... and 516lbs of torque.

I think for me the car of the show was either the SL55 or the Porsche GT 2...both stunning cars...I also thought the G55 looked great as well as the imola 4.6 X5, the show was fun, only let downs no new E class or CLK...the Agean blue SL 500 with sports pack looked great too...but lines to sit in that were longer than some of those for rides at Disney

 

So, did they give an anticipated release date for the Sl55 in the US?

 

Just got back myself...SL 55 was awesome...I had my ML500 in for service and was hanging with some the local MB guys at the show...I asked what was up with the horsepower changes???
475...469 and now 493???.....they said:..."even those numbers are conservative...the car has well over 500HP".... I trust these guys as they had driven the car a number of times...This jibes with what fouad heard from AMG...I love it!!!

They were a little confused themselves about the absence of the W211 and W209...the W211 absence was chocked up to the fact that MBUSA still has big inventories of the W210...but the the lack of the W209 was abit more puzzling to them as stocks of the W208 are basically sold out...from MBUSA.

I thought the GST was a very beautiful design...the wheels were a bit over the top...

The funniest thing was the Lexus annoucer making all kinds of excuses for no room in trunk of the SC430 Cab when the top was down...looked really lame with SL 500/SL 55 just across the aisle...showing off all it's space!!!:p

 

think about it guys...the slr's supercharged 5.5 v8 (sound familiar?) had 550 horsepower. i wouldn't be surprised if the supercharged 5.5 v8 (again...sound familiar?) had over 500 horsepower.

 

NOW THAT YOU GUYS HAVE SEEN IT IN PERSON HOW ABOUT SOME PICS PLZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!! :p

 

The SL55 at the show was sporting the AMG thin 5 spokes that come with the sport package. The car was Brilliant silver with I think Ash (grey) interior. The only things setting the model displayed aside (in terms of exterior) from a Brilliant Silver SL500 with sports package are dual double exhausts, and the SL55 AMG badges on the back and V8Kompressor badges on the side just behind the front wheels. Oh, and the englarged brakes at all 4 wheels with calipers engraved with the AMG letters. Like someone said.. the video they had playing of the SL55 was impressive. I loved the shot of the speedometer and tachometer rocketing up as the driver was on the gas.

Johan in Jersey

 

jco-amg

Did you happen to see what the msrp/list price is?

 

Was it Diamond Silver or Brilliant Silver?