So far as powertrain evolution goes, most automakers are actually shifting towards smaller turbocharged motors in lieu of bigger V8 and even V6 powertrains. However 15 years in the past, many luxurious manufacturers had a really evident “greater is best” method, particularly when it got here to what was happening below the hood.

The Choose of the Day is a 2009 Mercedes-Benz SL600 roadster listed on the market on ClassicCars.com by a non-public vendor in Ponte Vedra, Florida. (Click on the hyperlink to view the itemizing)

“The nice half is about this automotive,” the vendor says. “It’s uncommon, it’s lovely, the efficiency is unbelievable, and it’s a $200k supercar with lower than 36k miles on it.”

It’s tough to imagine that this automotive will probably be 14 years outdated in only a few months; the design has aged extremely properly, and this automotive’s situation speaks for itself. “Completely lovely situation,” the itemizing says. “Simply had latest upkeep; nothing in any respect fallacious with the automotive. This can be a hardtop convertible that works completely.” The darkish silver exterior exhibits a few of the updates that got here when the “R230” chassis SL (which initially dated again to 2002) went via a restyle.

Mercedes’ press launch from July 2009 talks about a few of the developments that happened for the 2009 mannequin 12 months that had been particularly associated the high-performance variants of the SL: “A direct descendant of the legendary 300SL ‘Gullwing’ of the Nineteen Fifties, the present SL roadster lineup options the V8-powered SL550 (382 horsepower, 391 lb-ft of torque) and the V12-powered SL600 (510 hp, 612 lb-ft) in addition to the high-performance V8-powered SL63 AMG (518 hp, 465 lb-ft) and the V12-powered SL65 AMG (604 hp, 738 lb-ft).” With a roster like that, Mercedes was clearly catering to go-fast crowd.

This was not by any stretch Mercedes’ first foray into large 12-cylinder engines. The primary Mercedes to get a V12 was the W140-series S-Class luxurious sedan again in 1991. In any case, the model’s key competitor, BMW, had related choices and the competitors between the 2 marques was (and is) extremely fierce. Within the case of right now’s automotive, the engine is coupled with a five-speed computerized transmission.

Probably, anybody who might afford an SL600 was not too involved about gas economic system. However, the numbers weren’t that dangerous for automotive with such a large powerplant: This automotive was rated at 11 miles per gallon within the metropolis and 18 within the freeway.

Have you ever ever pushed a V12 automotive earlier than? I haven’t, and I’d like to take this one for a spin.

The asking worth is $42,000 for this attractive SL600.

To view this itemizing on ClassicCars.com, see Choose of the Day.