Mercedes Benz

Mercedes-Benz officials have made up their minds: the new SLS AMG Black Series will arrive next year. However, for the U.S.-bound customers, there are no good news: the street-legal variant of the SLS AMG GT3 is a forbidden fruit. And it looks the SLS E-CELL could follow the same rule.


Through time, several rumors announcing the introduction of the SLS AMG Black Series appeared on the interwebs. The oldest date back to 2009 and, as years flew away, all this drama intensified. After the C 63 AMG Coupe was added to the Black Series lineup in mid-summer this year, the SLS AMG will soon be transformed into a hardcore supercar as well. More precisely, the Black Series version of the gullwing is expected to enter the stage in early 2012, with an official premiere probably slanted for the Detroit Motor Show in January. Initial hints were suggesting the machine would get a massively-pumped 700 hp V12 engine, which is a good 40 hp more than the unit fitted to the SL 65 AMG Black Series.

Bad news for the Stateside dealers, as they won't be able to display a street version of the SLS AMG GT3 in their showrooms. The reasons this low-volume model won't be available for sale in the USA are the high cost of adapting the car for the North American market, which certainly beats the number of examples that could be sold. If this was not enough, the electric variant of the SLS, the E-CELL, which is released in late 2012 in Europe, might face the same destiny.

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