Dan Trent: Mercedes‑Benz SLS – Dan gets carried off on a gullwinged flight of fancy

Now, the 510hp/503bhp GT S is a very impressive machine. I'm sure the 575hp/567bhp GT R that made its debut at the Festival of Speed with AMG boss Tobias Moers at the wheel will be more so. But that first drive of the GT S around Laguna Seca revealed it to be much more grown up and composed than the SLS I also drove there a few years before. My hope was this 'basic' GT might have more of the raw spirit of the SLS from which the car takes much of its inspiration and underpinnings.

The SLS launch was my first time at Laguna Seca, a track I'd idolised from endless hours on Gran Turismo. Driving it for real in a car of the calibre of the SLS was pretty damned special; doing so following Mercedes DTM legend Bernd Schneider around just made it even more so. If rather full-on, Schneider's interpretation of 'ducks and drakes' track instruction being to nail it out of the pits and dare you to try and keep up.

That's very AMG. Its products and people – boss Moers being a prime example – are not the types to muck about. A spirit very much embodied by the SLS, its first ground-up car and a dramatic step up from its more regular business of seriously souped up Mercedes passenger cars.

Now, I'm not usually one for the whole retro thing. But I love the original 300SL and the SLS's riff on that classic theme is tastefully and tactfully done. And there's no escaping gullwing doors are just cool. A novelty. But one that never loses its charm. And though it was pitched as a sporting GT the SLS – like the original 300SL in fact – actually concealed a much harder edge than you might have suspected. That 6.2-litre V8 engine – also a clean-sheet AMG design – is one of the all-time great motors. From the aluminium spaceframe to the transaxle gearbox and low centre of gravity the SLS is superbly balanced too, albeit with a hint of ferociousness at the limit to keep you on your toes.

It seems the market has woken up too. Not so long ago on PistonHeads we had Chris Harris picking out a 4,500-mile car in the classifieds for just £90,000. We wrote about one someone had covered 100,000 miles in recently and even that was now £109,000. And the cheapest now for sale is another £30K over that. I fear I have comprehensively missed the boat but it still seems relatively good value for a car this exotic, with just 250 showing as registered in the UK.

And after some virtual tyre-kicking this is my car. Silver on red leather is a nod to the classic combo on the 300SL, it's got the desirable ceramic brake option and enough miles on the clock not to be too precious about using it. Best get in there quick…   

Images courtesy of Pistonheads.