06 November 2009 - 12:00
SLS gets extra-retro
The new Mercedes SLS is an amazing thing: 553bhp of sublime handling and mad square edges and excellent gullwing doors.
But if you feel it's lacking a bit of retro charm, the tuners at Gullwing America are here to help.
Their makeover aims to make the SLS a little more 50s, a little more 300SL and... well, we're not quite sure about it.
You'll remember Gullwing America as the guys who created that swoopy, retro 300SL, and it looks like they've tried to meld the new SLS with their original creation.
Which means a bizarre bodykit consisting of carbon fibre and aluminium - check out those flattened-off arches - plus a cracking set of 20-inch alloys, and a whole load of Alcantara on the inside.
What do you think? As we said, we're not at all convinced - and we're guessing that if you were unsure about the SLS's aesthetics before, this won't do much to help.
We'll hold out for 2011's SLS Black Edition, ta...
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just a no on this one to be honest. hate the lights and they've taken away the line on the grille. the rest though, not bad at all, alcantara and carbon will make it lighter and therefore faster but i'd prefer the upcoming black. thnx
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and yh i forgot, those wheel arches are soooooooo bad.
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I agree with Robert4 those wheel arch "eyelids" are just wrong diddly wrong neighbour
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i dislike the headlamps on the real sls. but this one's are no improvement.
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What's retro about this?!? It just makes this car look a little bit more stupid than it already looks when it's stock!
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I don't like the Porsche headlights and silly arches. And the simplified front mask is a little frog-faced, aided by those round 'eyes'. I'll take a normal SLS. Or a proper Gullwing.
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ugh,they've made it look worse with all the porsche headlamps and the cheap plastic panels.don't these tuner chaps know that they should leave the designing to the proper guys?
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Ew. No other words necessary, just "Ew", to be pitched however high or low you want it.
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ewwwwwwwwwwww
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I really like the shape of the SLS, but this is just nasty. The lips on the arches look ridiculous. Big fins on the back would have been much better!
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I have seen at least 3 different horsepower numbers for the SLS now. It started with 571, went to 563, and now you have 553 in this article. Why is it in a constant state of decline? The bonnet revision that Gullwing America has done, in addition with more rounded headlights, makes the SLS look very much like the Viper test mules that Mercedes was using. Some people were quite fond of the test mules, I think they looked pretty bad. While the SLS promises to be a great car, with more comfort, somewhat more predictable handling (a review I read recently stated that the car didn't communicate its limits well) a dual clutch transmission, and other technological advances, I'd still rather have the raucous brutality that is the Viper.
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I may have a different opinion on this one. I kinda like the retro thing in it.
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id rather have a panamera....LOLOLOL
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The word 'horrific' perfectly describes this tuning, er, 'effort'. All the new curves and arches are awful, the new mouth is mind-bogglingly ugly and the headlights seem to have came from a Ford Scorpio. I'd call it a recipe for disaster.
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oh christ. It looks like a bouncer's bling mobile.Except it isn't "mobile" at all.you could just buy a catering van.
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I do quite like that really, looks nice
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Frankly that body-kit is horrible
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Horrendous is the only way to describe this, like a fish that swam through a narrow gap and got shaved on either side.
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looks too much 'old school'. you'd be cool back then but like now, even with the re-invented version of this car, it's still an old car with bling on it. you can't really bring back those those Mercedes as much as the Camaro and such... makes me think of a Mini Cooper kind of, the headlights form
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hmmm... I'm a bit mixed. I like the sls, but I don't like this one. The front light are just not doing it for some reason...
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Why do they want to look like a grown-up far lard Porsche Speedster?
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My God, this is my dreamcar ( well the SLR was but i heard will be off production) and what they have done with the SLS is simply abomination, the ugliest Modification i have ever seen...i live in canada and i don't how i would have been able to survive without top gear because here in north america all the car shows you see are something like the look of this car or about pickup trucks --Tuned up-- haha
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It's horrible...It looks like a porsche with fancy wheel awnings and an oversized grille...
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I could do without the cut-off wheel arches, but I like the grill. The regular grill looks to much like a dodge.
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hhmmmmmmmmmmm I shall have a cup of tea and think about it.
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the massive hole in the fender and the red stickers going from the lights upset what still is a mercedes that looks better than what mercedes are capable of... also the wheel guard things come out of the body too much, if they were molded in better it would look better
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ew...no thanks.
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just as ugly as before.
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the new car was fine, as well as the old one. but when they come together... I thought it was a Porsche 911, that the styling department actually gave a rats ass about
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I think it looks netter actually, seem to be in the minority. I prefer the way the bonnet and front grille come together and then merge flatly with the wheel arches.
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looks skills if not a bit chavy
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lethargic and procrastinating engineers whose creativeness have dried up design these kinds of cars! putting a very powerful engine into a retro is called hot - rodding! since when did AMG get into hot - rodding?
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Rixelieu commented on this article
06 November 2009
Looks nasty and cheap, something between a photoshop amateur job and one of those bodywork abominations chavs get done in backstreet garages.
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