Mercedes-Benz has officially acknowledged that the SL is
getting renewed for yet another generation. The new generation of the car has
officially entered the road-testing phase, and Mercedes has marked the
advancement in the development with a few official ‘scoops’ showing the
pre-production cars on German roads. This time around, the SL will be a
dedicated Mercedes-AMG model instead of having separate AMG variants. Thus, it
will be marketed as the Mercedes-AMG SL.
Expected to launch next year, likely as a
2022 model, the all-new SL appears to drop the folding metal roof in favor of a
soft top, while some unconfirmed reports have indicated that it might add two
small rear seats. Developed by Mercedes-AMG, it will be built on the Modular
Sports Architecture (MSA) platform of the next-gen GT sports car, and should
provide a good balance between comfort and sportiness.
The engine lineup has yet to be confirmed,
but it might include a 429 HP 3.0-liter six-pot, alongside a 515 HP twin-turbo
4.0-liter V8, as well as the 604 HP variant of AMG’s V8 in the SL 63. Sitting
at the top of the range could be the SL 73 performance plug-in hybrid with up
to 800 HP.
