The baby Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Gullwing sports car has been shrouded in mystery ever since the first spy images of it appeared online over a year ago. Initially it was thought its name could be something like SLC and that it would fall beneath the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG as a kind of baby-racer to take on the Porsche 911 and Jaguar F-Type. We then found out SLS production would not run past 2014 and what was internally-coded as the C190 by Mercedes-Benz might very well be its replacement.
Now, unsubstantiated reports suggest that the baby Benz will in fact be called the Mercedes-Benz AMG GT. And it appears to be righting all the wrongs the big SLS was criticised for: the thirsty naturally-aspirated 6.2-litre V8 will likely make way for a new twin-turbo, 357 kW, 4.0-litre V8 or even an entry-level V6 with 250 kW, that will better satisfy fuel economy and emissions targets; and as prefaced by the spy images, it will be smaller, lighter, more affordable and more compact.
The C190 chassis makes use of an updated version of the SLS Gullwing’s aluminium space frame which is “highly flexible and can be easily modified for length, width, height, bodystyle, and wheelbase,” say Mercedes-Benz. It should retain the SLS’s transaxle configuration. Like the SLS, it is unknown if the next car will don the iconic gullwing doors of its bigger uncle. Doing so will certainly enhance body stiffness but will also add weight.
From what we can make out under the C190/AMG GT’s body cladding, it will get a characterful, long bonnet and a raked roof line; there are four tailpipes and a short, pert back end with what looks like an integrated spoiler on top of the boot lid. The C190/AMG GT has a long way to go before we see it on the roads in production form but count on 2015 for its long-awaited arrival at the princely sum of €100 000 (R1.4-million).
