Rare car spotted: Mercedes-Benz SL 73 AMG R129
Jul 20, 2009 | 09:45 AM
#1
Thread Starter
| Teamspeed Pro
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 31,554
From: Zoo York
Rare car spotted: Mercedes-Benz SL 73 AMG R129 With only 85 examples ever made we can conclude that the Mercedes-Benz SL 73 AMG is a car that is quite hard to spot. It's not a car that you could just order at the local Mercedes-Benz dealer more than ten years ago. No, this car was made for special customers. People with certain connections at Mercedes-Benz. In 1995 this car was sold via AMG with many bhp out of an engine that would find a place in the Pagani Zonda a while later.
Okay, maybe it's not the best looking Mercedes-Benz ever made but what does it matter? You don't buy this car for its looks. You buy this car because you love the brand with the star on the hood. With 525bhp out of a V12 engine it was, at the time, the most powerful V12 engine that Mercedes-Benz and AMG ever mounted in a SL. The production period didn't continue in one stretch. Halfway through the nineties the Germans decided to stop the production and continue it between 1998 and 2001.
In that period an engine was used that was modified in the meantime, fitted with an upgrade to make sure it was a bit more reliable. The 7.3 liter V12 would later on be used by Pagani, they liked the enormous amount of power.
On the outside a non-carfreak might not recognise the car as an AMG, if the badges are removed. Though it seems that the car looks a lot wider than the standard SL at the time. If we take a look at the interior we see that quite some changes have been made for this SL 73 AMG. The dials were replaced by AMG ones, they run up to 300 kilometers per hour. You also see a smaller steering wheel, that takes care of a better control. The seats are more like bucket seats for that extra bit of support through the bends.
Source-AUTOGESPOT
Okay, maybe it's not the best looking Mercedes-Benz ever made but what does it matter? You don't buy this car for its looks. You buy this car because you love the brand with the star on the hood. With 525bhp out of a V12 engine it was, at the time, the most powerful V12 engine that Mercedes-Benz and AMG ever mounted in a SL. The production period didn't continue in one stretch. Halfway through the nineties the Germans decided to stop the production and continue it between 1998 and 2001.
In that period an engine was used that was modified in the meantime, fitted with an upgrade to make sure it was a bit more reliable. The 7.3 liter V12 would later on be used by Pagani, they liked the enormous amount of power.
On the outside a non-carfreak might not recognise the car as an AMG, if the badges are removed. Though it seems that the car looks a lot wider than the standard SL at the time. If we take a look at the interior we see that quite some changes have been made for this SL 73 AMG. The dials were replaced by AMG ones, they run up to 300 kilometers per hour. You also see a smaller steering wheel, that takes care of a better control. The seats are more like bucket seats for that extra bit of support through the bends.
Source-AUTOGESPOT
Jul 20, 2009 | 06:54 PM
#7
Teamspeed Pro
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 5,659
From: Plano, TX
Heh, I don't think any Mercedes had quad exhaust back then... Back in 1995 everything was smaller, sports cars had dual tips or a big single, and only some SUV's had 18" wheels.
Jul 22, 2009 | 07:05 PM
#9
Amazing how far we've come. When the F40 came out, I think the Countach still had 15" rims?
