The Ultra-Rare SLR McLaren You've Never Heard Of

[Music] hello and all welcome to see through class today you find me at a top secret location that's because over the last year or so you may have noticed me talking quite a lot about an online car auction platform called collecting cars i actually appeared on the collecting cars podcast with chris harris last year i've known the founder ed lovett for quite some time and he actually appeared on my podcast behind the glass and at one point in this summer i was quite seriously bidding on a classic alfa romeo that came up for auction on the collecting cars site i've been speaking to ed quite a lot and i'm super excited to say that we decided to partner up to allow me to film some of the cooler quirkier and rarer cars coming up for auction on collecting cars and we are kicking off this partnership in style because today i'm going to be filming one of the rarest most exquisite mclaren mercedes it's a super rare super amazing slr and it's just over there so let's go check it out no no no it started raining it started raining this car is far too valuable to leave the roof open when it starts raining semi-automatic roof closing for those of you interested it gets to that point and then you do that and lock it in and then hold close [Music] i mean what is it with the uk it's it's bloody why is it no it's not august anymore it's september but i guess it's officially autumn also these doors you have to really slam them there we go yes so slr let me take you back to the sort of late 90s early naughties when mercedes-benz were not only engine suppliers for the mclaren f1 team but also major shareholders in the mclaren group and in 1999 mercedes-benz unveiled a concept car at the frankfurt motor show which is kind of like a celebration of their iconic 50s race car the 300 slr but also sort of showed off a lot of the f1 tech they'd learn from their engine supply deal with mclaren f1 well that concept car was so popular that mercedes-benz went heck should we build this thing and yes the slr road car that i think we now know and love was built and despite the fact it has a mercedes-benz badge at the front and the name is officially the mercedes-benz slr mclaren it was actually mclaren who built it it was built at the brand new mclaren technology center the car has fully carbon fiber body panels and is powered by a 5.4 liter supercharged v8 engine from amg which puts out in standard form 617 horsepower in 2003 when this car launched that was insane i mean this is a hyper car of its day in fact it came out as a similar time as the enzo ferrari and the porsche carrera gt so naturally journalists kind of compared all three but i feel like that's where the misunderstanding around the slr began because in my mind this thing is a hyper gt a bit like a bugatti veyron but because it kind of came out against the enzo and the carrera gt and all three could do over 200 miles now i think people assumed it was supposed to be this kind of track weapon especially with the mclaren name everywhere but no i don't think it i don't think it was ever supposed to be that i don't know we'd have to go and ask mercedes or mclaren wouldn't we now they did make a number of different versions of the slr over its production cycle because production ran from about 2003 it's around 2009 or 2010 there was the coupe the roadster which this began its life as the 722 which was a more powerful hardcore car which kind of really celebrated the 1955 300 slr even a 722s but right at the end of production well actually i think when production had actually ceased mclaren launched mclaren automotive the company which of course went on to give us the 12c and the p1 and all the cars that we now know of mclaren and as part of mclaren automotive there was a division called mso mclaren special operations and we of course know them as the team that do insane carbon fiber bodied centers and p1's and things like that well mso announced they'd be doing a very exclusive upgrade package for the slr for a small group of customers and that is what this car is a mclaren edition an upgraded version from mclaren of the slr this isn't just any mclaren edition car this is number one zero zero one the plaque is right there this was the first car to get that treatment it did start its life as a standard slr roadster 350 grand they were slr roses back in the day the quite amazing thing is this car's had one owner from you so the guy bought the car and a couple of years later he went you know what i want to send it back to mclaren and i want to get all these upgrades absolutely mad but in a second hopefully the rain will stop and i can jump out show you all these upgrades show you all these changes and unbelievably we're then going to go for a little drive i really hope the rain stops for that we're going to do this quick because i'm getting increasingly wet but yes a lot of bespoke components to show you on this car most noticeably this front bumper very different from a standard slr it looks like a real sort of underbite like a huge chin of the front of the car very aggressive very mean lightweight 722 edition wheels and then up here on this huge elongated bonnet we've got these kind of like gills here on the wheel arches and then these amazing carbon fiber vents all helping and aiding cooling of that huge grey supercharged engine we're gonna come back to this exhaust in a bit because that's a whole story in itself you get these mclaren bespoke red mclaren badges uh carbon fiber wing mirrors uh obviously this lovely red roof we're gonna talk about the interior when we jump back inside and we're nice and dry there you go those lightweight alloy wheels again a tinted rear taillight another lovely red mclaren badge on the back at this huge carbon fiber rear diffuser then there was some tweaking done to the suspension that was entirely revised for this car and the engine itself got a bespoke ecu tune so this standard car as i mentioned 617 horsepower the 722 edition took it up to around 640 horsepower i've been told this bespoke tune by mso is even more than that i don't have a number but it's apparently insanely impressive which makes the fact that the ground is getting increasingly wet and slippery a little bit upsetting because yes i am about to take this car for a drive and and i really don't want to do anything wrong in it because as i say not only is it so rare but it's so damn valuable those doors are so cool anyway i teased it just then um but in addition to the additional ecu tune power this car was also fitted with a completely bespoke and custom exhaust when the customer dropped the car off with mso they said look we can fit the 722 edition exhaust if you want increases horsepower slightly sounds pretty beefy and he went no i want more than that so yes they created an entirely bespoke exhaust for this car are you getting the idea this thing is so special it's covered just 1700 miles from you i mean and i'm about to drive it in the rain who's trusting me to do this i do not know collecting cars you're mad for arranging this you're because you're soon going to be auctioning a car that's upside down in its roof in bits is that still valuable i doubt it uh now if you've never seen uh how an slr starts up it's a pretty cool exciting moment you turn the key around turn ignition on and then down here on the gear shift lever it's a little sort of thing that you push up it's a bit like bit lambo bit sort of fighter jet and there's your engine start button so yes are you ready for this i'm not sure i am here we go [Music] so i have actually driven an slr before a standard coupe during drive the world last year in sweden i've forgotten what a mad experience it is it feels truly unique in here and truly special oh my god this thing absolutely takes off oh another thing i forgot is the brakes are a little bit odd this of nothing nothing a lot so you have to get used to really being able to stamp on that pedal when you need to but this thing i think feels a lot faster than the standard car i drove oh wow and you're sort of sitting way back in the car you've got that massive bonnet stretching out in front of you the engine is actually just there whilst it looks like a kind of fun engine car it's definitely mid-front such an exhilarating experience now you might be thinking with all my references to the 722 edition why wouldn't you just go and buy that instead of this mclaren edition car this is just so much more rare and so much more bespoke don't forget they made a hundred and fifty seven two two edition slrs and 15722 s's on top of that all of them had to be the matching specs they were all identical was this completely unique and completely bespoke especially this interior which i think is absolutely stunning and then don't forget we have theoretically got more power and more sound than a 722 oh my god this thing is just so fast oh my god i need to behave i honestly need to behave you know what i already said that this in my mind is a hyper gt something to do long distance miles in and it does feel like it would actually destroy any road trip it just wants to launch itself 300 miles down the road the thing is that five speed box you can actually do the majority of your driving in canada one gear that was a bit that was a bit naughty um learned to behave so i don't want to go back but i have to because i've already put too many miles in this car considering how few it had when i got in it this morning it's time to turn around and drop this thing back my god i think what i love about the slr is it feels like it really celebrates one of the most dominant partnerships in modern f1 history mercedes-benz and mclaren in the late 90s and throughout the naughties they were just winning everything the hacking and championships all those kimi raikkonen near misses for the championship and of course lewis hamilton's championship in 2008 it feels like this car really celebrates that and it's been so misunderstood so undervalued the slr it's finally creeping back up and i feel like it's only going to continue to skyrocket as people appreciate it for what it is i still think it looks fantastic it looks relatively modern it just feels so inherently special it's definitely a poster hyper car from my youth not my youth but my my teenage years and then this particular car just feels like the ultimate example not only has it got 1700 miles on the clock but one owner from you who's then kind of put on all the ultimate upgrades from factory none of this is aftermarket it's from mclaren themselves and it's just totally unique which makes it feel even more special than i think a standard slr already does so i am massively grateful to collecting cars for allowing me the chance to come and check this thing out despite the damn british weather damn you because i would have i mean can you imagine this thing roof down how insane must that be but yes if you're interested in checking out more about this car learning more about the incredible history the story of how the owner took it from new through the various upgrades to what you see now i'll put a link to the auction listing on the collecting car site below now i'm just going to sit here for a few more minutes just taking it all in because it's just one of those real pinch yourself moments i don't get the chance to get up close to an slr that often but not one this rare i mean honestly i it's almost got a new car smell maybe i'm getting carried away but it almost does is everything is in perfect condition so anyway if you've enjoyed the video give it a thumbs up and make sure you stay subscribed for plenty more videos to come [Music] foreign

Channel: Seen Through Glass

Views: 738,641

Rating: 4.8524919 out of 5

Keywords: seenthroughglass, seen through glass, mclaren slr, mercedes slr mclaren, maclaren slr, mercedes benz slr, mercedes-benz, slr mclaren edition, rare slr, slr mclaren roadster, mercedes benz slr roadster, mclaren edition slr, rare mercedes, rare mercedes benz, mclaren slr review, mclaren slr 722, slr 722

Id: jVT9zs5glpg

Length: 13min 6sec (786 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 09 2020