Mercedes Benz SL 500 2006 Pictures 
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Mercedes-Benz SL 500 2006
Westminster Cathedral bell ringers couldn’t tug harder at my heartstrings, even if they tried. Dear reader, I’m wearing my heart on my sleeve to announce my firm affections for the Mercedes 5.5 litre V8 SL500.
We’re not talking teenage doey-eyed puppy love. This is the real deal. Every time I see her the butterflies in the pit of stomach somersault to the tune of Ravel’s Bolero. I’ll admit the charms of the AMG version did turn my head at first but I knew only too well the maintenance would be high, both emotionally and financially. To even contemplate dating the smaller SL350 would be akin to asking Mimi McPherson out for dinner just on the off-chance you would get to meet her sister, Elle. No, the SL500 is the one for me.
You don’t have to be gay to understand why the fairer sex metamorphous into a bowl of quivering jelly when there might be even the faintest whiff of George Clooney or Brad Pitt on the TV. Likewise you don’t have to have any interest in cars to see why the SL is coveted. It exudes the very essence of a true roadster.
There’s nothing gauche about it. This isn’t some nobody who once dated a footballer and thinks a shopping trip to Bond Street will buy her a way out of Chav-dom. No, the SL has the heritage and DNA of over half a century of beauty. It started in 1954 with her great, great-grandmother, the exquisite and legendary “gullwing-door” SL350, and the lineage has continued ever since.
Take her out for the evening and she crosses all social boundaries with the grace and ease of the late Princess Diana. Each time you slide into her leather and wood cabin she greets you in a motherly fashion. She wants you to nuzzle against her bosom so she can fiercely protect with her plethora of safety features against any impending hazards. But this is one lady that still knows how to let her hair down. Push her button the right way and she will drop her top in sixteen seconds. Roof down she yearns for the accelerator to be tickled. Resist as you might you just know this will be the ride of your life. She teases you to push down hard with your right foot. Too much and you’ll be dealing with a banshee, too little and she’ll eat you up before breakfast. Get the right balance and you’ll be dealing with a vixen and with a gentle roar her 5.0-litre engine will suddenly spring into life. Only the ABS brakes can stop both of you as 60 mph passes by in a tad over six seconds. The urge for mutual satisfaction is overwhelming as she coaxes you to changes up through all seven of her gears. The only boundaries are limited by the electronics under the bonnet that stop her going past 155 mph.
I’ve driven lots of different types of cars. Some I’ve felt nothing for whilst others have become close friends. Occasionally there has been one or two that have been like a one nightstand - momentarily intriguing until the following morning when fascination wears off. But the SL500 is so different from anything else I’ve ever experienced before. It is all things to all men. Loving and caring one minute, a siren the next. A ladette and a lady. Why did I fall in love? Do I need to tell you again?
Verdict
FOR: Sheer desirability and performance.
AGAINST: It will break your heart if you dont have her and break the bank if you do.
CONCLUSION: Her elegance and sultry presence is enough to make any highly contented individual want a taste. She is the real deal and there is no going back to normality
Spec
ENGINE: 5.5 litre, V8
POWER: 388 bhp
TORQUE (lb/ft): 530 Nm
0-62mph (sec): 5.4
MPG: /-/-/23.2 (urban/extra-urban/combined)
TRANSMISSION: 7 speed G-TRONIC automatic
PRICE: £75,880
RIVALS: Jaguar XK, BMW 650i
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