September 9, 2003

Stuttgart - The city of Brescia in northern Italy, where the SLR legend began 48 years ago, will be the starting point of a celebratory tour by the new Mercedes-Benz high-performance sports car to its premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The tour began today in the famous Piazza della Vittoria in Brescia at approx. 4.00 p.m. and takes in Affalterbach near Stuttgart, where Mercedes-AMG produces the SLR engine, on its way to the Festival Hall in Frankfurt/Main. This is where this ultramodern version of the Gullwing is celebrating its official world premiere during the morning of September 9, 2003. Formula 1 star Kimi Räikkönen will pilot the new SLR on this approx. 800-kilometre long route. At the start in Brescia he will be accompanied by Sir Stirling Moss at the wheel of the legendary SLR racing sports car of 1955.

It was in this Silver Arrow that Stirling Moss and his co-driver Denis Jenkinson started on the legendary Mille Miglia road race from Brescia in the early morning of May 1, 1955, winning it in the still unbeaten record time of ten hours, seven minutes and 48 seconds. With an average speed of 157.65 km/h the two Britons completed the fastest Mille Miglia ever recorded. Second place was achieved by Juan Manuel Fangio, also driving an SLR.

It is this triumph that Mercedes-Benz is commemorating with the first official long-distance tour of the new SLR. The tour goes from Brescia to Lago d'Iseo and on to the Stilfser Joch at an altitude of 2758 metres. The 460 kW/626 hp SLR McLaren will cross the pass, which is famous for its 87 tight hairpin bends, at around 8.00 p.m. and continue towards the Reschen Pass (1955 metres) after a short break, arriving at around 9.15 p.m.

After a stop in Imst (Austria), crossing the Fern Pass in Tirol (1209 metres) and a motorway stretch via Kempten, Ulm and Stuttgart, Kimi Räikkönen and the new SLR McLaren will reach the engine plant in Affalterbach at around 1.00 a.m. on September 9, 2003. The workforce of Mercedes-AMG GmbH will be there to welcome them.

At around 1.30 a.m. the SLR McLaren will then embark on the last stage of its first long-distance tour to Frankfurt/Main, where its official world premiere will be celebrated at 9.00 a.m. on September 9, 2003.

TV teams will accompany the new SLR on its tour from Brescia to Frankfurt, transmitting live pictures to the "Club SLR", which will open today at 6.30 p.m. at the Mercedes-Benz sales and service center in Frankfurt. VIPs, journalists and members of the DaimlerChrysler Board of Management will come together here for discussions about the new Gran Turismo, the history of the SLR and other car-related topics.

Exciting synthesis of legend and innovation

It was in January 1999 that Mercedes-Benz started the project for this exciting high-performance sports car, by presenting the Vision SLR show car. This Gran Turismo for the 21st Century documents the long years of experience shared by Mercedes-Benz and its Formula 1 partner McLaren in the development and production of high-performance sports cars.

Equipped with the latest racing car technology and pioneering new Mercedes features for the greatest possible safety and everyday practicality, the new SLR shines as an exciting synthesis of legend and innovation. The powerful, supercharged V8 engine (460 kW/626 hp) catapults the SLR McLaren from standstill to 100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds. As in the McLaren-Mercedes Formula-1 racing cars the body of the new SLR is of carbon fiber materials (CFR), which combine low weight with exemplary energy absorption and therefore provide outstanding occupant protection. The SLR is the world's first series-production car to feature a front crash structure entirely of carbon fiber.

Adaptive airbags, newly developed knee and sidebags, belt tensioners and high-performance ceramic brake discs, as well as an automatically extending air brake in the boot lid, round off the safety features of the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, setting new standards in this vehicle class.