MERCEDES 468K
With a $150,000 down payment, the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren that’s now resting front and center in a local auto showroom could be parked in your garage.
You’d also have to hand over $7,000 a month for 60 months to pay off the remaining balance and interest to take home the high-performance car, which surges from zero to 62.5 mph in 3.8 seconds.
But the buyer of this street-legal exotic sports car probably will plunk down $468,050 in cash. That’s what Randy Gunn, sales consultant at Mercedes-Benz of Colorado Springs, is figuring.
“There are a lot of people who could afford this car,” Gunn said.
Professional sports players. Collectors of fine automobiles. Lottery winners. Someone who possesses other
high-tech transportation, speculates Jeff Steinke, the dealership’s general manager.
“Guys who buy this kind of car typically own an aircraft of some type and understand what it takes to maintain a piece of equipment like this,” Steinke said.
By the way, maintenance on the SLR can run into the tens of thousands of dollars per year.
“It’s an investment to buy one of these animals,” Steinke notes.
After a two-year wait, the silver, limited-edition 2006 SLR McLaren with a cherry red leather interior arrived last week at Mercedes-Benz of Colorado Springs, a division of Phil Long. Only 500 are handbuilt in England each year as a project of DaimlerChrysler and McLaren Cars. About half the annual allotment gets shipped to some of the 300 Mercedes-Benz franchise dealerships in the United States.
The local dealership invested about $50,000 preparing for the SLR’s arrival, Steinke said, including training technicians and building a special rack to lift the carbon fiber body.
Listed as one of the world’s 10 most expensive automobiles of 2006 by Forbes magazine, the SLR is about the most expensive new car the Colorado Springs market has seen.
“This could be a great toy or a unique addition to a collection,” Gunn said.
For the majority, it’s a pipe dream.
“It’s a beautiful car. If I owned this car, I wouldn’t drive it,” said Stephen Wright, a financial adviser from Pueblo. He was eyeing the SLR this week while waiting for his far less costly Mercedes to be serviced.
The word is spreading that the SLR McLaren has arrived in town, and many are stopping by the Mercedes-Benz dealership just to gawk.
There have been a few serious contenders, Gunn said. They get to step through the side-lifting swing door, slip into the race-car style bucket seats, push the button to start the supercharged V-8 engine that generates 617 horsepower, and envision reaching its top speed of 208 mph.
The SLR has 20 miles on it, tallied at the factory. No one in Colorado Springs, not even general manager Steinke, has driven it.
That privilege is being reserved for the potential new owner, who prequalifies for payment ability.
If no one in the Springs steps up, the dealership is inviting eBay shoppers to bid, starting at $350,000 with a weekend at The Broadmoor included.
Steinke has no doubt it will sell. He has only one wish.
“I hope we sell it to a Colorado buyer,” he said, “and not someone from out of state.”
Then again, out-of-state money works just as well as Colorado money.
By DEBBIE KELLEY THE GAZETTE >> www.gazette.com
