Classified of the week: Merc SLR McLaren Stirling Moss

The days are shortening and the cold weather is creeping in, so what better time for McLaren to announce the Elva – a roofless, windscreen-less speedster with an 804bhp version of the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 usually found in the 720S and the Senna. Crikey.

But the Elva isn’t the first open-cockpit road car that McLaren has put its name to. Don’t tell us you’d forgotten about the stunning, all-out crazy Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss. Of course you hadn’t.

Just look at it. That long sweeping bonnet, those side-exit exhausts, the mega rear diffuser, the famous SLR name accompanied by Sir Stirling’s. It had everything. 

Under that lightweight carbon fibre bonnet was a 5.4-litre AMG V8 putting out 641bhp and 605lb ft of torque. The top speed – despite the lack of a windscreen – stood at 217mph. These were truly bonkers times.

When new, just 75 SLRs were built, and all sold at around £700,000 a pop. Homages as special as this don’t depreciate though, and the one you see above is currently for sale at £2.22 million. Yep, that’s no typo.

The car in question is being sold by German dealers Mechatronik and has just 964km on the clock. Heck, for the first two and a half years of its life this car wasn’t even road registered – it just sat in the current owner’s private museum. 

Shall we have a whip-around?