So that you can stand out in the golf club carpark.
Mercedes-Benz is one of those companies where a majority of its models have some sort of hallowed historical significance either to popular culture or to the brand, and that’s especially true of the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class. SL is thought to mean ‘Superleicht’ (or Super-Light) in German, and while the initial iterations of the SL certainly kept to that moniker, it’s evolved over time to better resemble ‘Super-Luxury,’ with modern SL-Class models claiming to be the pinnacle in open-top luxury motoring.
But with its position threatened by the S-Class Cabriolet, the SL faces a repositioning as a more performance-focused model, with the S-Class drop-top to assume the role of roofless grand-tourer. This SL Grand Edition then is a bit confusing because it’s certainly capable of putting the ‘Grand’ back in ‘Grand Tourer.’
The exterior features a variety of visual changes to make the SL look even more opulent, like high-gloss chrome & matte-silver highlights on the front fascia. Moving down the side there are staggered AMG 10-spoke alloys (19s in the front and 20s at the rear), finished in high-gloss black and featuring polished rim flanges and spokes. There are also badges dotted around the place so everyone knows this is a Grand Edition, and not some plebeian SL.
The interior of the SL Grand Edition features pearlescent brown leather (you read that correctly), offset by black Nappa leather and contrast stitching & piping. You also get ‘Grand Edition’ embroidered on the headrests for good measure.
The Grand Edition comes standard with the 10mm-lower sports suspension, Airscarf neck-level heating, active multi-contour seats, and Driving Assistance Plus with Active Parking Assist.
The SL Grand Edition will be available to order as either an SL400 or SL500. The former uses a 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged V6, putting out 270kW and 500Nm, with power going to the rear wheels via a 9G-Tronic automatic, despatching the century sprint in just 4.9-seconds. The SL500 gets a 4.7-litre biturbo V8 instead, with 334kW and 700Nm, with the same gearbox and a 4.3-second 0-100km/h time.
It’s presently unclear if the SL Grand Edition will be made available in Australia, but expect it to cost a pretty penny if it ends up here. But money and metallic leather upholstery aside, the 6th-generation SL has really grown into its looks with this generation, and now that Mercedes-Benz has confirmed the continuation of the SL-Class, we can’t wait to see what the future holds for the iconic ‘Superleicht.’
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