stevieb

I came across this article today and thought it was interesting. Apparently Mercedes and McLaren are making a convertible SLR.

Convertible SLR

I also found these stories on the same site.

Special Edition SLR

Mini SLR Concept

The site has lots of luxury car news but not much else car related.

stevieb

Does no one care it is so cool.

Cylinder Head

iTrader: (1)

Hardtop supercars make little sense to me unless they're designed that way in the first place. It just seems like an attempt to gain more market penetration with a car that they just can't seem to get rid of in the first place.

stevieb

I think super cars are better as hardtops. Lambo only recently introduced convertibles.

ash-c32

so far sold 1300... more than carrera GT (True pure sports car)
makes it a success in my book

CyE55

Carrera GT had many pre-sold as well. Then they all showed up for sale again. SLR was the same.

Good looking car though. I saw an SLR this morning on the road, and it's truly a sight to see.

Cyrus

c2jones

Actually, Mercedes and McLaren are parting. McLaren will no longer have any affiliation with the SLR.

stevieb

From when?

c2jones

When the contract expires. (I'll look this up.) Its not new news. This has been in Mercedes magazines for months. I first saw this in the MBCA's internal publication, The Star, many months ago. I will go back and try to find the exact language, but I'm sure there are a few in here that have some handy links already available for you.

The convertible will not be built under the current contract. While rumors seemed to have already lead to serious talks about production of the convertible, and some sources claim this is an assured thing as we speak, it is Mercedes that has this interest, not McLaren. The link you presented is of an original file photo published way back when this car was still within its original concept introduction stages. Most of us have that photo on our hard drives within our pictures section. I have loads of them.

ash-c32

This is not true, in fact it is the exact opposite of the real situation.

c2jones

I am SURE I read about the differences the two were having. Perhaps they worked things out? Nevertheless, I will gather up the article, scan the piece and post it here...

stevieb

???

c2jones

So, just as I had stated, what I had read was that the partnership between Mercedes and McLaren has officially dissolved, which was reported in the reliable Automobile magazine back in March of 2005.

According to this article, the future plans of all projects between the two firms have been discontinued. Perhaps there have been updates since as, again, these droptop discussions persist.

If anyone has an update upon this topic, please have us know.

StephenK

This should help the value of the existing inventory of SLR's, since they will not be produced anymore.

c2jones

Agreed. But where is this droptop talk coming from? Have there been changes to this severance? Perhaps they've agreed to build the roadster as a parting marketing arrangment...?

(Nice RT SL600 you've got there.)

glassJAw

That article is old news. (it's dated March of '05)

I was told that the SLR will go back into production for the US market after ALL SLR's are sold off dealer floors. When dealerships get these cars they pay for them up front. That means they will not show up as being available for sale when another dealership does a search for SLR's available in the area. Turns out SLR's were being special ordered from factory when one was available right down the street at the next dealership. Mercedes/McLaren finally said no more would be produced until there were none available in dealerships in the US.

ClayJ

That is my understanding as well.

We are in a production hiatus, caused by American $tealer$hip $toopidity, in my understanding....

NY C32

Your post doesn't make any sense at all. First, who cares if an SLR shows up on a search. I guarantee every dealer knows which on has them on any given day. From your post, my understanding is that if dealer "a" buys an SLR from MB, pays for it and then sells it to customer "a", all is fine so far. The next day, customer "b" comes in and wants his own SLR and is willing to order it, dealer "a" has to pass on the sale and send them to competing dealer "b" who has one available? How and why would Mercedes penalize their own dealer network for selling cars? No way, no how. I realize some people running DCX aren't the brightest people but cannibalizing their own business by sabotaging their own dealers wouldn't make it past their fleet of lawyers

c2jones

The article might be dated (which was stated upfront), but has anything come since (officially) to counter the statements within? That was the point of the matter here. The issue is not when McLaren and Mercedes decided to pull the plug, but rather, if there has been any revisiting or updating of their decision or if MB is going to go with it alone, etc. (Some were questioning my original statements as to even the troubles with the SLR project and the falling out of the two firms - thus the article.)

I would still need to be convinced that MB does not see things exactly as they had stated from the onset of the severance of these two firms regarding the SLR project. Production costs are high and sales are slow. The project is not economically sound for them and there is certainly an undesired affect to the marketplace and the image of MB (and the SLR) to be sitting around as distressed merchandise at dealers. Adding the factor of many current owners seemingly looking to move theirs as well, and MB has an eerie aroma to this once so beloved project.

Going back to the original premise of this entire thread, upon the matter of whether there will be a "convertible in 6 months" (or at any time for that matter), is the real question for me. I have not seen anything in credible print since that article of 2005 to counter their statements then nor anything happening in the marketplace to sustain the notion of a convertible SLR in the near future.

Once again, if someone has something of an update on this, I would sure welcome seeing this and the source of the update. I would like to be true as much as the next.

ClayJ

They made some changes to the 2006 MY to freshen-up the car. They announced the production of the convertible model. They've come out with the 722 special edition to pump some interest back into the car....

I think that the story is, however, that 200 or so SLR's were sitting on the ground, unsold, in the USA. I do remember hearing that MBZ halted production of the SLR until this excess production (inventory) liquidated. (Don't have the figures here off the top of my head, but I would think that the USA was 50-60 percent of the market for the car).

With the current fright with economics, those with the means are not buying new toys - in fact they are selling current, unbeloved toys.

So, a hiatus. Until MBZ discerns an increase in demand; and then we may indeed see an SLR drop-top. I see it as a likely prospect....

glassJAw

No, the scenario is more like this:

Dealer A has purchased a silver SLR with black interior. Customer A walks into dealer A and wants a black SLR with black interior. A salesman does a search on available SLR's in the area and nothing comes up because they aren't listed. So dealer A orders a black SLR with black interior.

And around the same time:

Dealer B has a black SLR with black interior (OH MY GOD THE ONE CUSTOMER A WANTED!!). Customer B walks in and wants a silver SLR with black interior (THE ONE DEALER A HAS SITTING AROUND). Another salesman does a search and can't find any available silver SLR's with black interiors. So he orders a new silver SLR with black interior.

Bam! Now you have 2 more SLR's on their way that were already in the US. It was dealer miscommunication all along. And this is what I was told at the SLR training center...so I don't have any written proof to back it up. And it all makes sense since most dealerships are independently owned and operated so they're not really looking out for one another or help.

yeuchau

can't wait to see the actual car

Juice it

I can't see this really being an issue because I would think most people looking for an SLR are in touch with the market and have checked cars.com, ebay and autotrader to see pretty much all the SLR's available. I don't think many would just walk into their local dealer thinking they will have the car they want. Also, now there are huge price differentials between many dealers and I think SLR buyers are smart enough now to shop price as well.

glassJAw

I'm sure there are a lot of SLR buyers that do shop around. But I'm also sure that a lot of people buying this car want it as a collector car and they want to have one built especially for them....even if that means waiting a few months to take delivery.

Remember, I'm just relaying what I was told at the training center. It could be completely false but I'm sure the guys at the only SLR training center in the US have a pretty good idea as to what's going on with the vehicle.

ClayJ

Even several months....