A radical variation on the SL63 incorporating direct references to the world of Formula 1 racing and a past motorsport glory. Why not?

HERE is it …Mercedes-AMG’s true halo car: Though not in a sense of it having ultimate status.

The AMG One is patently the uber-uber car from Stuttgart and its performance partner. 

The AMG Purespeed, seen here and unveiled at the Formula One season-wrapping Abu Dhabi grand prix yesterday, doesn’t have quite the same status.

It’s going to be built in greater volume, wasn’t developed with the help of Benz’s F1 drivers and is - though say this quietly, because it WILL offend - really not much more than a highly glorified SL 63. 

True, still a very expensive and exclusive one: Speculated likely price of at least $NZ2 million, just 250 being produced.

What makes it a halo car? Simple, it has one.

Being a homage of sorts to motorsport’s pinnacle category, it being divested a windscreen it instead takes the same sort  primary head-protecting safety device meted the world’s fastest single seaters. A halo. Plus roll hoops.

The chopped top look is an interesting aesthetic, but let’s agree car’s like this are designed to be noticed. And as the only car on the road with a central spine that combines with those traditional roll-hoops to act as a rollover-protection structure, it will be.

And yes, while the car is entirely open, your head will be enclosed, in that a helmet is part of the deal. The helmet is colour-coded to the car; if you don’t like the red/black here, other schemes are available.

Built for the track? That’s the idea. Mainly because it will struggle to be road legal in many places.

This thing packs the usual AMG 4.0-litre twin turbo V8, feeding all four wheels, tuned to punch out 477kW and good for just under 320kmh. Zero to 100kmh occurs in 3.6 seconds.

What can top it? Doubtless, Benz and its partner will think of something, as the Purespeed is just the first product from a new low-production Mythos series, aiming at ultra high-end customer.

The aero package is active and passive and goes beyond the active rear wing that comes on regular SL models. Under the nose is a new movable flap that helps suck the car to the road at pace. There are also underbody aero elements, borrowed from AMG GT 63 Pro, to direct cooling air to the brakes. 

The front end is lower than an SL’s and obviously absent is the donor car’s Panamericana grille; dropped for a lower front intake paired with a black chrome three-pointed star. This sits above a carbon splitter with an aggressive pair of moulded end-plates.  

More end-plates can also be found on the unique side skirt and rear bumper designs. The 21-inch forged wheels feature carbon-fibre aero deflectors to help cool the standard-fit carbon ceramic brakes. 

The transmission is a nine-speed wet-clutch automatic and it also has a semi-active anti-roll suspension system and rear-axle steering.

Inside, there’s a bespoke two-tone colour scheme of white and black Nappa leather, plus the inclusion of AMG’s bucket seats and a custom IWC watchface mounted on top of the dashboard. 

As much as it is motorsport inspired, the car isn’t designed for serious track racing. So why does the display car carry a race number? 

That No.10, and the red and black colours, evoke a Mercedes-Benz that won the mythical Targa Florio endurance race in Italy in 1924.