Mansory’s take on the Mercedes SL is quite… something

Mercedes SL aficionados, cover your eyes now. Because where the original 300 SL Gullwing is considered one of the most beautiful cars in the world, German tuner Mansory’s take on the latest seventh-generation SL is… anything but.

Where else to begin than with the looks? Mansory calls it a ‘widebody conversion’, with tweaks to the front bumper, bonnet, grille and air intakes, as well as the wings, mirrors, arches and sills, the rear bumper and the pop-up spoiler. Carbon fibre features prominently, as you’d expect, while it also wears new shoes in the shape of two new 22-inch alloy wheel designs. 

Customers can choose to spec the interior as they wish, with Mansory adopting a contrasting, white-themed look for the pictured example. While exact details are few and far between, we’re told it does get a custom sports steering wheel, floor mats and aluminium pedals, with the Mansory emblem on show just about everywhere.

Performance tweaks? Mansory tells us it will offer customers the choice of P720 or P850 versions, each offering substantial power upgrades over the 577bhp and 590lb ft outputted by the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 found in the AMG SL63, courtesy of its inventively named ‘PowerBox’. Yep, because more power was exactly what the SL needed…

Anyway, figures. The P720 gets 710bhp (+133bhp) and 738lb ft (+148lb ft) of torque for a 0-62mph time of 3.4secs (two tenths quicker) and a vmax of 202mph (+6mph), while the P850 gets 838bhp (+261bhp) and 848lb ft (+258lb ft) of torque for a 0-62mph time of 3.2secs (four tenths quicker) and a vmax of 206mph (+10mph). 

So go on then, let’s hear your thoughts in the comments section below…