2009 Mercedes-Benz SLR Stirling Moss Z199
By Lorenzo Bianchi August 3, 2009
Mercedes-Benz and McLaren capped the SLR family with the Stirling Moss, revealed December 2008 and limited to 75 units at 750,000 euros each.
The supercharged 650hp (478kW) V8 pushes 0-100km/h in under 3.5 seconds and on to a 350km/h top speed, with no roof or windscreen at all.
Production ran from June to December 2009, following the SLR Roadster's end of manufacture in May 2009, closing out the SLR era.
Mercedes-Benz and McLaren didn't send the SLR out quietly. Announced in December 2008, the SLR Stirling Moss stripped away the roof and windscreen entirely, leaving just two small wind deflectors between driver, passenger and the open air. It's named for Stirling Moss, the British driver who set a Mille Miglia record in 1955 behind the wheel of the original 300 SLR — a record Mercedes notes he still held at the time of this car's reveal, at ten hours, seven minutes and 48 seconds.
Exterior Design
The body, built entirely from carbon fibre, follows what Mercedes describes as an arrow-shaped silhouette: a long bonnet running back into a compact, muscular rear. Because there's no windscreen, the bonnet's line flows straight into the cabin rather than stopping at a cowl, giving the car a continuous, stretched profile. Two air scoops sit behind the driver and passenger, doing double duty as rollover bars, while black-painted vent gills on the bonnet and sides echo the original 300 SLR racers. High side skirts — another nod to the 1955 car — led designers to fit forward-opening swing-wing doors rather than conventional ones. Two tonneau covers stow in the boot and can be fitted over the cockpit when the car is parked, and with everything closed up, Mercedes says the car reads almost as a sculpture.
Interior Space and Technology
Cabin materials lean heavily on carbon fibre, aluminium and leather, with surfaces on the instrument panel and doors that intersect at deliberate angles rather than flowing smoothly — a puristic approach that matches the car's exposed-air concept outside. One detail stands out: an aluminium plate engraved with Stirling Moss's own signature covers the area around the shift lever.
Powertrain and Performance
Power comes from a supercharged V8 producing 478kW (650hp), enough for a 0-100km/h time under 3.5 seconds and a 350km/h top speed — figures Mercedes points out no other series-production car matched while also being fully open. The car shares its carbon-fibre structure, suspension and V8 with the SLR Coupé and Roadster, along with a closed underbody and rear diffuser for downforce. That diffuser is notably larger here than on its siblings. An Airbrake can be raised manually during hard cornering for extra rear downforce, and it deploys automatically under heavy braking above 120km/h to help stabilise the car.