Earlier in the week we had an official teaser image of the new SL due to be revealed next week in LA; ahead of that
World Car Fans
has leaked what it claims are a full set of official pictures showing the car from all angles.
The "new front and diamond grille" is now fully visible, clearly inspired by the AMG GT and the S-Class with new intakes too. From here it looks much sharper than the outgoing car; admittedly not a tough job but an improvement nonetheless. The rear has followed the new 3 Series - and the Peugeot 406 facelift if memory serves correctly - in having all red rear lights.
Inside the changes are again minor - it's certainly not a huge change when a new dash clock is worth mentioning. Other than that, it looks familiar Benz, albeit with an integrated screen and some additional carbon fibre.
Mercedes will show the revised SL to the world (and presumably many potential customers) at the LA show next week. More to follow when we have it!
ORIGINAL STORY, 11/11/2015
Good old Mercedes SL. New niches come and go, modern spins on old formulas are tried and competitor products benchmarked to within an inch of market rivals. But the SL just sits alone. It's not a sports car. It's not quite a GT. It's ... an SL. And very good at it.
So good at it when we got a teaser shot of a new one coming at the LA show in a couple of weeks there was collective furrowing of brows and 'are we on an all-new generation or just a facelift?' Just the latter of course, this being the aluminium R231's mid-life update. So far all we've got is this head-on shot, which at least confirms the current model has lost some of its fugliness and regained some of the pre-facelift last-gen R230's sleekness.
What else do we know? Er, nothing. "New appearance for an automotive icon: The SL with a new front and diamond grille," is all Mercedes is saying for now. Turbos and downsizing have already made their appearance in the range, as driven by us in V6 twin-turbo SL400form not that long ago. How small an engine are SL buyers willing to accept? Would they, for instance, accept a four-cylinder? A diesel, as has been mooted and even shown as a concept? Both would be a big emotional step and the SL is by nature conservative and likely to hold onto its V-engines for a while yet. Expect instead a focus on technology, safety kit and a significantly increased gizmo count.
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