A real shame if its a ragtop, that cant be good for holding up at high speed.

Really would look insane as a hardtop sheel though.

Somehow I am almost confident that this roadster will feature a hard top. After all, the technology is pretty much available from the SL, and the windshield is really raked, which helps with balancing to the short deck proportions of the SLR. Mercedes is not usually prone to do something half-assed as taking a step back, when even GM has retractable power tops nowadays.

What I am curious to know is how they intend to address the fact that the doors are not window-frameless. As I have read up, the doors are crucial to the rigidity of the structure.

Also, they definitely, definitely have to up the ante with the power. SLR is no longer in such a rarified air powerwise (Murcielago, 599, not to mention, uhm.. Veyron), and the added weight is not a step in the right direction to address these newly presented threats.

I can't seem them spending the money to engineer a folding hardtop for such a low volume car that isn't selling as well as they'd like. More power and a general facelift would be nice for the SLR because its days are numbered. They only have about 1500-1700 left to sell before they reach intended 3500 goal.

M

That is my point exactly--they do not need to spend the extra money to reengineer the top, since the mechanism is already available in their current parts bin.

The SLR is bound to be around for at least four more years, since its life in production is determined by the original 7 year span rather than the 3500 units to be produced. By then the successor built by AMG should be ready--a conventional steel and composite buld rather than carbon fiber.

But the top mechanism isn't already there. It is there for the SL and SLK, both are different from the SLR. It would still cost a pretty penny to develop a folding hardtop out of carbon fiber for the SLR and try to adapt the technology from the SL or SLK, it wouldn't just be a plug and play affair.

M

It better be a hard top, it would look weird otherwise.

The other interesting question would be will this roadster have the Gullwing doors?? If so, it would be interesting to see how they do it. Ya'll know the SLR's doors are not hinged at the roof like the Gullwing and it might be a little difficult for them to hinge them in the front it since it's a roadster. I think it would really look awesome with top down and the doors open upward if the do it.

As for the SLR's production.... SIGH!
MB made a huge mistake by producing (eventually) 3500 SLR's and giving it a seven-year lifespan like every other Mercedes. The max. they should be producing of them is 1000 or 1500 (like the CGT's). Otherwise what's so exclusive about a $450K car that would have 3499 similar cars to it around the world? It just doesn't justify paying that much money for a car that will still be in production 3 years from now . This is probably the reason they're not selling as they'd like 'em to.
I would still take one if I had money to burn

As far as the doors go, i think they will retain the portion of the window frame that hinges on the A pillar, and other than that, the window will be frameless. Thus, the doors will open and close just like the coupe's.

As far as the production span goes, i guess the 3500 units were needed to make the business case financially, since anything less, MB would not have afforded to go through with the project. They have shareholders they are accountable to, in the end, and do not have a Ferdinant Piech kinda guy up top who would defy everything and "command" the creation of a Veyron-like monster piece of technology. With Veyron, by the way, VW essentially pressed against a limit that I doubt anyone else will surpass in terms of raw speed, acceleration, and packaging.

Initial reports said the roof was too integral to the SLR's structure for there to be a roadster version. I hope the change of mind does not result in a greatly compromised vehicle. If it does, I doubt it will provide the sales revival they are aiming for.

Unless the SLR roadster is a targa type vehicle in the likes of Carrera GT, where the rear hoops actually serve as a C (or actually B) pillar of sorts, and they retain the entire door frame as is in the coupe. Thus, the only difference would be that the top section of the roof would be removable/retractable, leaving the vehicle as stiff as the coupe. We already know that Carrera GT of a similar architecture is one of the stiffest cars torsionally.

SLR 722 Edition Convertible. That would probobly be the fastest convertible in the world!

I can't wait to hear more about this!