The 73 badge is set to return to the upcoming 2022 Mercedes-AMG SL, but that model won't be anything like this vintage sledgehammer.
Mercedes-Benz's V-12 engine isn't dead yet despite regulatory predation and increasingly power-dense V-8 engines painting a bleak future. As, it is now built only by AMG's technicians and is only available stateside in a single non-AMG model, the Mercedes-Maybach S650. Back in the 1990s, though, Benz's V-12 was the new thing in town, and graced the priciest, most dignified versions of the S-Class sedan and coupe, as well asThe 6.
AMG's twisted math goes like this: Take one 6.0-liter V-12 from a car named SL600, bore it out for another liter of displacement to achieve 7.0 liters total, then rename it SL70. Never mind that"70" is a smaller number than"600"—the seven part is bigger than the six part, etc. And besides, German automakers long ago abandoned the practice of logically tracing engine displacements in their car names.
Those 70-badged models were conversions handled by AMG, but fundamentally all started life as SL600s that customers then paid AMG crazy money to boost. Later, Mercedes and AMG would team up on a more factory, even more powerful R129 SL-Class conversion for the V-12, the SL73. As you might have surmised, the more muscular SL73 came with a 7.3-liter version of the M120 V-12 engine that produced 525 hp.
What more could you want? The SL73 combines the timeless lines of Bruno Sacco's R129 SL with a huge, crazy powerful V-12 engine in a hedonistic exercise seemingly perfect for speeding toward Y2K and the dot-com bubble. It was an exclusive experience. Mercedes-Benz lacks concrete production information on the SL73, mostly because during the car's 1995-2001 run, AMG was still a semi-independent outfit and its record-keeping left something to be desired, or something.
Why bring this SL up now? Mercedes is on the cusp of redesigning its iconic two-door, and the regal model is set to.
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