Mercedes-Benz SL Class rear three quarter spy
Mercedes-Benz doesn’t seem able to keep its next-generation SL-Class away from prying eyes: we spotted the car testing in Nevada, and now spy photos from our colleagues at Motor Trend show the future SL traipsing around Germany.
As before, we can see that the new SL will continue to be a long-nose roadster with a folding metal roof. The pictures confirm that the car’s front fascia and headlights have been mildly restyled to fall in line with the noses of the new Mercedes-Benz SLK and CLS. Out back are new taillights with a curved, wraparound design; the reversing lights, oddly, are positioned low in the car’s rear bumper.
The glass panels in the folding roof make us think this SL has Magic Sky Control, Mercedes’ system which can electrically vary the opacity of the panels. We’re also expecting the interior to feature an updated dashboard and center console, which may resemble those found in the SLS AMG supercar.
While we think the golden-brown paint color seen on this prototype car is quite fetching, we’re not convinced about the wheels. The twisting, blending outside rim design looks like somebody accidentally combined two different wheel styles.
Under the hood, we believe base models of the new SL-Class will have a 305-hp, 3.5-liter V-6, followed by the SL500 with a 435-hp, twin-turbo 4.6-liter V-8. There will be two AMG versions: the SL63 AMG gets a twin-turbo 5.5-liter V-8 good for about 565 hp, while the SL65 AMG will retain a 6.0-liter V-12 engine with 630 hp and a seven-speed automatic transmission. Other SL trims will eventually get a nine-speed automatic.
We still don’t know when the next-generation Mercedes-Benz SL-Class will debut, although we expect it to make an appearance at a major auto show some time in 2012.
