McLaren SLRs: Under the Hammer

Missing a Stirling Moss edition from your collection of McLaren SLRs? Here's your chance to bag one.

Funny car, the McLaren SLR. In between the F1 and MP4-12C, the chaps from Woking conjured up a real Jekyll and Hyde project. On the one hand, the SLR was a glorious evocation of the spirit of the 300 SLR: a halo model for Mercedes-Benz that could reach 220mph in the right spec. On the other, it was curiously lacking in panache - somewhat dead-feeling on twisty roads and fitted with switchgear that belonged in an A-Class, rather than a hypercar for the uber-rich.

I occasionally jog through a Weybridge estate - the one where you're in danger of tripping over full-sized lion statues - and I'm often overtaken by McLaren SLRs. Plural, yes: a Coupe and a Roadster, with what looks like the same owner driving. I'm told that's quite normal: owners often have more than one SLR variant.

If you're missing an SLR in your garage, then hot-foot it to the Coys 'True Greats' auction in London on 1st December, where you can bid on not one but two SLRs - including the rarest of the lot.

Not that any SLR is common. Only 2,000 were ever made - some way shy of the 3,500 that McLaren had planned. But at a launch price of £350,000, this was always going to be a rarefied machine.

Moss on the catwalk
No question, the stand-out SLR at auction is the Stirling Moss edition, produced as the run-out SLR following the Mille Miglia-themed SLR 722 and Roadster 722 S specials. Production began in 2009, only 75 were made, and you could only buy one if you were already an SLR owner.

The Stirling Moss SLR reminds me of a hyper-maxed Smart Crossblade. No roof, no side windows, Spartan cabin trim, inch-high wind deflectors, and twin head fairings doubling up as roll-over bars.

It's got the same tuned 650hp version of the 5.4-litre supercharged V8 engine as the 722 edition. In a car weighing 200kg less than the base SLR, performance is perky, to say the least: 0-62mph in 3.5 seconds and 217mph tops. Mind you, the automatic gearbox spec (just five ratios) is so 20th century.

This example actually took part in the 2009 Mille Miglia. It's one of only four finished in white, in which form it looks pretty natty - far more interesting than the boring silvers and blacks of almost all SLRs. This one also has the rare carbon package. Serviced by Daimler AG in April this year, it's described as being in "excellent condition in every respect."

However, it's unregistered, which means you'll need to pay VAT on the hammer price if it stays within the EU.

What price?
Frankly, I have no idea. The Stirling Moss special edition cost a whopping £660,000 brand new - but what's its value now? We'll find out on 1st December...

But we do have some idea about the base line for SLRs because there's a 'regular' one up for auction, too. This is a standard 2008 coupe with a 'mere' 626hp and is painted silver (ho hum) with a red leather interior. It's got 16,000 miles on the clock, and when it was last serviced at the Mercedes SLR Centre at Brooklands, it cost its sole owner a burly £8,600.

The auction estimate is £160,000 to £180,000 - less than half the price when new. That estimate sounds reasonable to me, considering that the cheapest SLR in the classifieds is currently £157,750. Mind you, the priciest one is up for a mighty £239,995.

Things get much more expensive if you want to roll the roof back. The cheapest SLR Roadster is a stiff £299,875, while prices go as high as £365,000 for a very low-mileage (845 miles) Roadster.

Makes you think that the Stirling Moss edition may well do very well...