With news that Mercedes-Benz is working on creating the most expensive sedan in the world it isn’t a surprise that there are some pricey models from the company on the market already. When it comes to keeping up with the one per cent, you can’t afford to be too far behind.
Who knows what latest luxury accessories, gadgets and engines the chap in the mansion next door will be buying. When it comes to automobiles then chances are they’re at least considering a Mercedes. One of the famous, indulgent carmakers, when buying one of their models prices are high and you have plenty of respect to gain. Let’s take a look.
Photo by kishjar
Mercedes McLaren SLR
In production from 2003 to 2010, the SLR boasts a carbon fibre exterior, blistering top speed and came with a price tag of more than £300,000. It is a mix of a luxury Mercedes car and a McLaren racer. The agile motor has great handling and brakes but also has air conditioning, automatic gearbox and a boot to use.
A wonderful car, it didn’t sell as many as projected, but it was the flamboyant businessman Ueli Anliker who made it supremely expensive. The Swiss entrepreneur made a custom red and gold edition. It took some 30,000 man hours, a team of 35 people and the best part of £4 million to develop.
This SLR had wheels covered with 24 carat gold, along with gold covered doors and headlights. Apparently there are 600 rubies inside the car and resulted in an asking price of £7 million.
Unimog
An acronym of ‘Universal-Motor-Gerät’, a Unimog is the name for the Mercedes range of multi-purpose four-wheel drive trucks. A number of militaries across the world have used Unimogs to carry troops, command centres and ambulances. Elsewhere, they are used in Motorsport and disaster relief organisations but the big news is the celebrity who owns one. Well, he does at the minute.
Arnold Schwarzenegger owns a custom Unimog, of course he does, but has recently put it on the market. Two years ago, he bought the vehicle for $250,000 and it fits his personality perfectly. But now, with just 1,300 miles on the clock and complete with a signed dashboard, you can buy the monster for $275,000.
1954 Mercedes Formula 1 race car
When Mercedes re-joined the Formula One racing championships in 1954, they immediately won the title. This is the old school Silver Arrow car that Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio drove and it will always have a history and link to the iconic manufacturer.
It ticked the boxes of most valuable motorcar ever sold at auction, most valuable F1 car ever sold and most valuable Mercedes-Benz, not a bad haul, when it reached a mind blowing selling price of £19,601,500 at Bonhams Goodwood Festival in 2013.
CLK GTR AMG Roadster
A rare and powerful Mercedes model, this roadster was primarily designed to be a race car but a road car had to be built to meet homologation standards and, thus, there are a small number of these around. The interior and exterior play to the racing focus of the motor and, at the time, the CLK GTR was the most expensive production car ever built – $1.5m.
Mercedes SLS AMG
This luxury two-seater with gull-wing doors went out of production this year with a final edition of a GT to make way for a more competitively priced model. A beautiful car, it was designed in-house and was a hit with a number of celebrities.
Boris Becker, who owns a few dealerships, cruised round in one while Jay Leno and Eddie Murphy were known to have one in their collections. Also in the public eye, it was the cover car for Gran Turismo 5 and Jeremy Clarkson commented on Top Gear that, at the time: “This is not just the greatest car Mercedes makes; right now, I think, it’s the greatest car in the world.”
C112 Mercedes Benz Concept
Last on our list is the old, but intensely powerful, 1991 Mercedes-Benz C112 Concept. One of the most powerful cars when built and it still would be now. Going 0-100 in less than five seconds and a six litre V12 engine it is a hell of a car. The experimental sportscar was that impressive it received 700 orders but the company decided not to put it into production. It would go for upwards of £3.5 million today.