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Soon the Mercedes-Benz SL will go through a restyling, but prior to the fixing of the facelift aesthetics the German automaker is coming up with a special edition, the Mille Miglia 417, dedicated to the memory of a legend. This car is an interpretation of a modern day 300SL which took part in the Millie Miglia 1995.
It was a Mercedes series production vehicle, and it was way ahead of other racing ilk. The latest impersonation, however, cannot be ignored, and the SL is presented exclusively in matte black, and there are unique black wheels of 19- inches in the front and 20-inches at the rear. Red accents can be seen both inside and outside of the Mille Miglia 417. It is not discreetly done but executed in a nice way. The special appeal with the SL is its retractable hardtop, and we grabbed the opportunity to lower it when we drove it. However cautions needs to observe when doing that, because it works only when the car is either crawling or standing still. Other examples of other brands allow you to retract or close when the car is moving at 30mph.
It really looks aggressive with its top down, this Mille Miglia and of course it is fast. It takes just over 4 seconds to reach the 0-60mph mark, and it achieves a blistering top speed of 155mph which is governor limited. The soundtrack, however, cannot be compared with the AMG when you lift the foot out of the pedal, the exhaust note sounds like two tins clapping together. The seven-speed automatic fitted in the SL 550 is not in a match with the aggressive throttle mapping and appears lazy. The driver assistance system is loathsome, and the SL repeatedly felt that it was going to crash and applied the brakes immediately. This certainly makes you look like an idiot while you owed an explanation to the back-seat passengers.
We averaged just 14mpg but when we drove it in Germany, we subjected the Benz to triple figure speed and came up with a better average than this. On the highway, it is a different story as the SL offered excellent directional stability, and its steering worked with high precision. In spite of rolling on huge wheels, the ride quality of the SL is sufficiently comfortable. The otherwise composed car experienced more drama while transitioning between understeer and oversteer. While considering hard driving the SL63 AMG is more convincing.
Well, if the SL is what you want to buy in the market, it will be better to come up with thirty more grand, so that the more powerful version of the SL63 AMG can be bought over this special edition. Another option is an all out for the AMG GT version. However as it is with every special edition, the Miglia too has its own particular charm. In the future, it might end up as a collector item, but it will not be as popular as the car from which it has been derived.
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