After a five-year production run, Mercedes-Benz has dropped the boom on the first complete vehicle to be built by AMG. The SLS AMG GT Final Edition, to be launched simultaneously at the Los Angeles and Tokyo motor shows next Wednesday (20 November) will mark the end of the road for the iconic gull-wing coupé.
The SLS AMG has been produced in a surprising variety of formats - from the classically-inspired gullwing and roadster to the GT, the Black Series, an electric-drive version and even a GT3 race car - but when the 350 examples (that's all there's gonna be) of the Final Edition have been completed, the SLS will be no more.
So, this Final Edition, it's something special, right?
Mechanically, no.
It has the same 435kW, 6.3-litre naturally-aspirated sledgehammer V8 as the current production version, driving the same seven-speed dual-clutch transmission in unit with the rear axle.
Performance remains the same, too, with 0-100 disposed of in 3.6 seconds and terminal velocity at 320km/h.
But it will come with special alloy rims derived from those on the equally special SLS Black Series, uprated brakes, a new carbon-fibre splitter, a revised front bumper, a carbon-fibre bonnet, carbon-fibre mirror housings and a fixed rear wing instead of the standard pop-up spoiler.
THREE-BAR CAR
The Final Edition will be available as either a coupé or a roadster, its cockpit clad in quilted leather with contrast stitching and carbon-fibre trim, when it goes on sale early in 2014 at about €12 000 more than the base model - which means that in South African terms you're looking at something very close to R3 million.
THE NEXT GENERATION
But fear not, fans of AMG's special brand of automotive brute force; the SLS's replacement has already been announced.
Codenamed C190, it will be probably be badged as the SLC AMG GT, and will be smaller and lighter (less than 1400kg versus the SLS's 1695kg) and with a lower centre of gravity thanks to side-hung rather than gullwing doors - although knowing the petrolheads at Affalterbach it may have scissor doors a la McLaren.
2015 DEBUT
It's expected to debut in 2015 with a 327kW, twin-turbo four-litre dry-sump V8 - which has also been referred to in connection with the next-generation C-Class AMG variant - driving the rear wheels via a carbon-fibre propshaft and an uprated, more compact version of the SLS's seven-speed dual-clutch transaxle with paddle shift.
The Stuttgart Mafia are apparently hoping it will launch at about €120 000 (R1.65 million) and compete directly with the Porsche 911 Carrera S, Audi R8 and Jaguar F-Type coupé.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE
Car magazine quotes insider sources as saying there will also be a 375kW GTS version and, sometime in 2018, a Black Series SLC with more aggressive aero kit and its waste-gates screwed down to deliver more power than the current SLS or even the new Porsche 911 Turbo S.
We have two words for Mercedes-Benz: yes please.