Mercedes-AMG GT R Roadster spied

Affalterbach is putting the finishing touches to a rather serious new drop-top model

Mercedes-AMG boss Tobias Moers has long teased the idea of a GT R Roadster; now we finally have images of a development car that proves it's actually going to happen. Set for reveal later this year before reaching showrooms in the first quarter of 2019, the new convertible will provide the windiest GT experience possible by combining that gorgeous soft-top body with AMG’s 585hp blown ‘hot V’ eight-cylinder.

You might think it sacrilegious to lop the roof off of a model that was developed to be the most driver-focused iteration of a proper two-door sports car, and yes, there will undoubtedly be some dynamic hinderances thanks to the added weight and inevitable loss of stiffness. But Moers has previously said that AMG’s GT models are more about emotion than outright performance, and we can’t think of a setup likely to engage the senses more than one which brings you closer to a V8 that growls and gargles so hellishly.

Although furnished with 516lb ft of torque, the new car will be laden with about 35kg of folding roof gubbins and accompanying structural modifications, so it’ll probably tip the scales at about 1675kg. This will impact on the GT R’s performance, so don’t be surprised to see a tenth or two added to the coupe’s 3.6sec 0-62mph time, while that new roof will probably shave a few miles per hour from the 198mph top speed. Top speed with the roof down? Irrelevant, unless you want to simulate tornado conditions…

The GT R Roadster will be the eighth model and the fourth drop-top in the GT line-up, joining the cloth-roofed versions of the GT, GT S and GT C to become the newest and priciest GT variant. It will arrive alongside updates for the entire range, most of which will be centred around the introduction of Mercedes’s latest cabin infotainment architecture, as seen in the C-Class.

That car uses a new digital instrument cluster and centrally mounted screen, and a similar solution is expected in the two-door GT’s cabin. That means it’ll offer customisable layouts and more adjustability for displaying the likes of satnav and live journey info, which, while not particularly sexy, are undeniably important traits in a model designed to be as usable as Stuttgart’s Porsche 911.

The GT train doesn’t stop there, however, because once this GT R Roadster is launched, the attention of AMG’s engineers will turn to the hardest and fastest iteration set for production. Yeah, we’re talking about a GT Black Series. That’ll come in 2020…