The fastest road-going Mercedes ever built will be a production model, not just a super-limited special edition, say insiders.
Still to be officially named, but informally dubbed 'Gullwing', the new car is expected to debut at the Detroit show in January.
With numerous spy shots doing the rounds (more here), the car is an open secret. Indeed numerous aspects of the car were revealed by members of the Silver Arrows camp at last week's Paris Motor Show and the penultimate round of DTM German touring car championship at LeMans.
Following discussions at the Paris show, the Carsales Network can reveal the car will be a series production model. Expected to have a seven to ten-year model life, a total of up to 5000 of the performance two-seaters could be built, say Benz senior execs.
We can also confirm after discussions with AMG-founder Hans-Werner Aufrecht, that the DTM boss' HWA racecar building and development house will play a pivotal role in the production of the car.
Gullwing, will not however be built by Aufrecht's operation. The cars will be assembled in-house by AMG. HWA is believed to be supplying the car's alloy and composite monocoque.
Though AMG will need to move to a lower emission Euro VI compliant twin-turbo 5.5-litre V8 for its post-2010/11 models, the Gullwing will remain naturally aspirated. Our sources say a specially modified and blueprinted version of the current 6.2-litre V8 will power Gullwing. The bespoke engine will satisfy Euro VI, says insiders (allowing it to be sold for the foreseeable future), but at a cost that is not feasible for high volume AMG models.
The power output of the modified '63' engine (it may be renamed for Gullwing) will be in excess of 400kW. Dr Leopold Mikulic, Vice President, Powertrain, Mercedes-Benz Development would not comment when pushed on specifics, but joked the car's engine output would be "sufficient".
Gullwing will also be unrestricted. The only other unrestricted AMG or Benz product at present is the just-announced SL65 AMG Black. Insiders have stated the new Gullwing car will have a top-speed "over 320km/h".
DTM legend Bernd Schneider will play a crucial role in aspects of the Gullwing's dynamic development including stability control, antilock and suspension settings. He intimates the brief is to endow the model with true racecar potential.
"We're building for the people who really want to go for it, you know. Like the SL65 Black Series -- this car is really a monster you know.
Schneider admits there are stiff targets for the Gullwing. He says he has lapped SL65 AMG at under 7:50 on standard rubber. The fastest published 'production' Benz lap recorded to date is a 7.54 by CLK DTM AMG.
When pushed on whether the Gullwing is quicker around the Nordschlieffe, Schneider plays the diplomat: "This is a good question for my bosses not for me," he joked. "My development with this car will start later on -- it's too early at this stage."
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