Another gullwing car's demise - MBZ SLS AMG production ending soon?

[Rich]

The Mercedes SLS AMG (Gullwing) Coupe is apparently nearing the end of production.

If true then soon it will have been 4 up and 4 down in the scorecard of production-volume cars with gullwing doors. Credible rumors that Mercedes is preparing to announce the final edition of their SLS AMG line, both roadster and (gullwing) coupe:

LINK: Jalopnik SLS

LINK: Car & Driver blog

There seems to be no successor Mercedes gullwing coupe lined up behind it.

"After just three years on the market, we must bid farewell to the SLS. Our sources have confirmed a report from German publication Auto Motor und Sport that Mercedes will launch a send-off special-edition—likely to be named Final Edition—SLS at the L.A. auto show next week. We understand that the Final Edition SLS will be the last of the gullwinged supercars, production of which will cease in the middle of next year."

If and when they do stop making them it would be interesting to learn the total SLS AMG gullwing production volume number.

The List:

Mercedes 300SL Coupe
Bricklin SV-1
DeLorean DMC-12
Mercedes SLS AMG Coupe

[JohnZ]

I think that it is good for a supercar like that (and for pricey and weird cars in general) to be "rare". Delorean quitted because the thing was forced, but stopping the production on purpose it's a good move in my opinion. The reason is simple: how could a car like that become "common" among general drivers? Is simply impossible. They are too pricey and this means that just a few pepole can actually afford the car. Then imagine if the roads were full of Deloreans, SLS or weird cars like those... you would definitely lose that cool factor that surrounds them.

[Rich]

UPDATE
Mercedes' AMG division ended production of the 2014 AMG SLS a month or so back, announcing that the 2015 AMG SLS Final Edition will be a run limited to 350 cars.

The car that will fill the slot in the lineup vacated by the outgoing SLS is the 2016 AMG GT - similar to the SLS in many ways but with conventional doors - which recently debuted and is due in showrooms in Spring 2015.

We can now tally up the approximate totals for the 4 gullwings ever produced in volume.

The List in chronological order including total production count*:

Mercedes 300SL Coupe: 1400
Bricklin SV-1: 2854
DeLorean DMC-12: 9000
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Coupe: 3450 est.

For car models that were also offered in other body styles the production count is for the gullwing coupe version only

* source: wikipedia except SLS AMG

[AugustneverEnds]

There are a few other gullwinged cars that have come and gone recently, the Bristol Fighter and Gumpert Apollo. Some not so recent gullwings like the Autozam AZ-1 and the Melkus RS 1000 (made in East Germany nana2: communists had gullwings too!) And the Pagani Huayra is in, very limited, production.

[JohnZ]

Today I saw a Mercedes SLS down the road here in Belluno. IN BELLUNO! I am sure about that, but it was just a quick flash... I remember I concentrated on the door handles just to be totally sure that it was a SLS... and it was.



What in the world was it doing here??

[beernpizzalover]

It was a pretty sharp car - the sticker price was just too high!