The only thing cooler than driving a Mercedes AMG SLS like you stole it would be driving one around a Formula 1 track like you stole it.
That's what Bernd Mayländer will do for the next nine months whenever things go sideways at an F1 race, because the AMG SLS "Gullwing" has just been named the official safety car of the coolest auto racing series on the planet.
Mercedes' high-performance AMG division has since 1997 provided the safety cars for F1, and the SLS is particularly well-suited to the task. The hand-built über-car puts down 571 horsepower and sprints from zero to 62 mph in 3.8 seconds. That makes it the most powerful F1 safety car ever.
This baby's got a top speed just shy of 200 mph. It won't hit that kind of velocity leading the pack around, say, Spa Francorchamps, but Mayländer nevertheless will hustle it around the track. F1 cars are highly strung and finely tuned, and even in adverse conditions they've got to keep the speed up so the tires and brakes stay hot and the engine stays cool.
Perhaps the coolest thing about the safety car is, aside from the light bar, the carbon fiber mirrors, a low-restriction exhaust and the carbon-fiber hood designed for optimal air flow, it's bone stock. If you've got $263,642, you can drive the same car Mayländer drives.
Just not as well.
Photo: Mercedes-Benz
