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A Benz from the Dark Side, with DTM-inspired bodywork and a twin-turbo twelve.
With the U.S. economy in a recession and the worldwide automotive market struggling...could there be a worse time for Mercedes to launch the $300,000 SL65 AMG Black Series? Maybe not. Maybe the Black Series is exactly what we need — a twin-turbocharged boost of fresh air, a rolling testament to all that is good and fun in the car world. Sometimes you just have to live a little. The gargantuan race-car-like fenders draw people to the Black Series like bugs to a windshield. Mired in Los Angeles traffic, people were laughing, cheering, waving and giving thumbs-up signs as the Black Series drove by — few cars have the mesmeric effect of this silver-bullet Benz. At one point a guy in a Mugen Civic shot across five lanes of traffic to follow the Black Series off an exit, just so he could get a closer look.
Based on the SL65 AMG, the Black Series adds an all-new body and ditches the non-purist retractable roof in favor of a fixed carbon-fiber version with an integrated rollbar. Thanks to the use of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) for the front fenders, hood, front fascia and trunklid, Mercedes says 210 lb. have been shaved off the standard car. The Black Series' second most imposing feature is its deep front fascia, dominated by two huge, mesh-covered air intakes which feed the twin charge coolers (M-B says the extra air makes them 30 percent more effective) for the turbocharged V-12. One minor annoyance: The carbon-fiber fuel flap was hard to open and didn't sit flush with the body.
Road and Track - Road Test: Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Black Series
M
With the U.S. economy in a recession and the worldwide automotive market struggling...could there be a worse time for Mercedes to launch the $300,000 SL65 AMG Black Series? Maybe not. Maybe the Black Series is exactly what we need — a twin-turbocharged boost of fresh air, a rolling testament to all that is good and fun in the car world. Sometimes you just have to live a little. The gargantuan race-car-like fenders draw people to the Black Series like bugs to a windshield. Mired in Los Angeles traffic, people were laughing, cheering, waving and giving thumbs-up signs as the Black Series drove by — few cars have the mesmeric effect of this silver-bullet Benz. At one point a guy in a Mugen Civic shot across five lanes of traffic to follow the Black Series off an exit, just so he could get a closer look.
Based on the SL65 AMG, the Black Series adds an all-new body and ditches the non-purist retractable roof in favor of a fixed carbon-fiber version with an integrated rollbar. Thanks to the use of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) for the front fenders, hood, front fascia and trunklid, Mercedes says 210 lb. have been shaved off the standard car. The Black Series' second most imposing feature is its deep front fascia, dominated by two huge, mesh-covered air intakes which feed the twin charge coolers (M-B says the extra air makes them 30 percent more effective) for the turbocharged V-12. One minor annoyance: The carbon-fiber fuel flap was hard to open and didn't sit flush with the body.
Road and Track - Road Test: Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Black Series
M
