Mercedes SL65 AMG is Absolute Affalterbach Insanity

When Mercedes Employees Go Wild

Every once in a while, Mercedes-Benz and parent company Daimler will allow their employees to truly indulge. They'll throw financial responsibility, sales goals, and general practicality out the window to create very special machines. Machines that often go down in history for being the first of their kind, for amazing design solutions, or for being uniquely crazy in every possible way.

Photos: Hemmings

SL65 Black Series

The Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Black Series is one such unicorn of creation, the likes of which we used to get from the German manufacturer a lot more often in the earlier years of this millennium. And despite being thirteen years old now, the performance numbers of this monster still hold up by today's standards.

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Performance That Still Holds Up

AMG introduced their first Black Series model of the current generation with the unveiling of the 2021 Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series earlier this year. And what's amazing is that the 13-year-old performance and technology of the SL65 Black Series is still competitive with the newest model. The SL's 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12 is capable of 661 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque. The newest AMG GT Black Series, by comparison, produces 720 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque.

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Twin Turbo V12

The SL65's twin-turbo V12 can propel the ~4,200-pound AMG beast from 0 to 60 miles in just 3.6 seconds, which is still supercar performance numbers by today's standards. The Black Series is also designed with completely new body panels all around, except for the doors and side mirrors. And the looks and functionality of the body modifications showcase the amount of creative freedom AMG engineers had with projects such as this.

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Unique Body Work

Black Series vehicles of this era are instantly recognizable by their gnarly widened fenders. The SL65 AMG Black Series features a 4.1-inch increase in track width at the rear, and 4.5 inches at the front when compared to the regular SL65. This not only gives the car a significantly more aggressive look, but also helps provide more traction on the track.

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One of 175

A total of 350 of these wondrous machines were built, and 175 of those were sold here in the United States. The car featured in this slideshow is one of those examples. And it is now up for sale through Hemmings in Miami, FL. The 2008 SL65 Black Series shows just over 11K miles on the odometer and has had 2 owners. The Steel Gray SL is listed for $397,500.

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For maintenance and repair guides, browse our technical How-to articles right here at MBWorld.org!