Blue Sky Thinking

The first cars were roofless, exposing their occupants to the elements all year round. It was only at the end of the 19th century as engines became more powerful and cars faster, that folding textile or leather roofs began to appear on more expensive machines.

In 1905 Cadillac became the first manufacturer to introduce a fully closed roof on their cars as an industry first. Unsurprisingly their wealthy customers were happy to pay extra for the privilege of being shielded from the elements all year round.

By the 1980s car manufacturers had turned this business model on its head, asking customers to pay extra for a convertible, and even more for a Speedster with a shortened windscreen, or no windscreen at all!

The most prolific current manufacturer of the Speedster genre is Porsche, whose 356A Speedster of 1954 primarily appealed to customers in sunny Southern California. Since then Porsche has added five generations of Speedster to its seminal 911 range.

Mercedes-Benz has a long and glorious history of open cars, convertibles and roadsters, but notwithstanding the 190SL Speedster prototype of 1954, their only production Speedster till now was the visually imposing Mercedes SLR McLaren Stirling Moss of 2009.

Powered by a 617hp 5.5 litre supercharged V8, this limited-edition Speedster was created as a tribute to the 300 SLR that Sir Stirling Moss raced
to victory in the 1955 Mille Miglia. The 75 examples built as the run-out model of the SLR range were offered exclusively to existing SLR owners and have soared in value from the original price tag of £600,000 to an all-time high of £2.8 million for the 28-mile example that sold at the RM Sotheby’s Auction in August 2024.

With a proliferation of entry-level models taking the Mercedes brand increasingly more mainstream, the need to preserve the three-pointed-star’s air of exclusivity has become ever more pressing. Thus, cars like the Mercedes-AMG ONE hypercar that set a new Nürburgring lap record for street legal cars are vital for brand equity.

Sitting a rung below this in the pecking order, Mercedes recently announced their exclusive ‘Mythos’ range. The premise is that each of these limited- edition models will be inspired by a significant car from Mercedes’ participation in motorsport, which began with a two-cylinder Daimler V-engine powering another manufacturers car in the first ever motor race that ran from Paris to Rouen in 1894. The first all- Mercedes machine to win a race was the 2.0 litre Targa Florio racecar of 1924, exactly 100 years ago.

The pathfinder for the Mythos range is the Mercedes-AMG PureSpeed that made its international debut at the recent Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. With its design cues drawn from motorsport the PureSpeed is offered as a limited edition of 250 cars in the best Speedster tradition.

Powered by the latest version of the twin- turbo 3,982cc V8 motor good for 585 hp and 800 Nm of torque, the PureSpeed blasts to 100 km/h in 3.6 seconds and on to a top speed of 315 km/h. Being completely open to the elements, the cabin is a uniquely exciting place to be with even modest speeds subjectively feeling faster, and the thunderous AMG V8 soundtrack even more visceral. A wet starting clutch replaces the torque converter in the AMG SPEEDSHIFT MCT 9G transmission, its lower mass making for faster throttle response on the fly.

Based on Mercedes-AMG’s sports car architecture, the chassis is a self- supporting aluminium space frame whose impressive structural rigidity and low weight is derived from its optimised mix of aluminium, magnesium, carbon- fibre composites and steel.

Five-link independent suspension is used at both ends, with forged aluminium components to reduce unsprung weight. AMG Active Ride Control with roll stabilisation looks after the damping and roll resisting moments of the suspension. The damper chambers on all four wheels and the lines are connected directly via the control valves of the adaptive dampers to individually compensate for reactions at the other side of the car. This improves comfort by keeping everything on an even keel over bumps and while cornering.

To improve ride comfort the system stays ‘open’ when the car is driving in a straight line. This has a similar effect to decoupling the anti-roll bars in a conventional analogue suspension to maximise axle articulation. An optional front lift system raises the nose by 30mm to clear ramps or high-speed bumps. Such obstacles can be programmed into the GPS navigation system so that the front is raised automatically the next time you are in the same place.

Another standard feature is active rear- axle steering. Up to 100km/h the rear wheels steer in the opposite direction to the fronts, making the wheelbase ‘shorter’ to enhance low speed manoeuvrability in car parks or tight bends. Over 100km/h the rear wheels move in the same directions as the fronts, ‘lengthening’ the effective wheelbase for improved high-speed stability.

As with the AMG GT 63 PRO, the underbody also features aerodynamic elements that compensate for the lack of a roof and improve downforce. A front axle lift system is activated at the touch of a button to raise ground clearance to negotiate speed bumps and ramps.

Traction off the line and out of bends is enhanced by the AMG Performance 4MATIC+ all-wheel drive system, which offers fully variable torque distribution between the front and rear axles for optimal traction and dynamic stability in all conditions.

The 9.5J and 11.0J x 21-inch forged aluminium wheels are shod with 275/35 R 21 tyres 305/30 R 21 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres, and feature carbon fibre covers that clean up the airflow spilling off them to improve aerodynamics. The front covers are more open to optimise front-end airflow and brake cooling, while the more extensive rear covers help to reduce air turbulence. The AMG high- performance ceramic composite brake system features six-piston fixed brake callipers at the front and single-piston floating callipers at the rear.

The aero elements of the front and rear aprons as well as the side sill and the
trim behind the seats are made from carbon-fibre, and the car features a host of active aerodynamic elements, such as the extendible rear spoiler, which sits flush with the bootlid until it is deployed once road speed exceeds 80km/h. Then the control software that monitors speed, longitudinal and lateral acceleration and steering inputs, selects the appropriate one of five different angles of attack for the spoiler to optimise downforce or reduce drag.

Up front, the active aerodynamic carbon-fibre spoiler normally concealed in the underbody in front of the engine automatically lowers by around 40 millimetres as the rear spoiler rises. The Venturi effect created reduces lift on the front axle, translating into greater front- end stability at high speed, and more precise steering in fast corners.

Occupants heads are protected from the airstream by aerodynamically optimised helmets designed and manufactured specifically for the PureSpeed.

Colour-coded to the car, each helmet has a plug-in intercom system that allows the driver and passenger to communicate clearly, even at high speeds. As an additional feature, smartphones can be paired with the intercom system, allowing the driver and passenger to make phone calls and listen to music through the built-in helmet speakers.
With blue skies above and the open road ahead, the Mercedes-AMG PureSpeed is the perfect Speedster to bring you closer to nature on a Sunday morning drive along the coast or in the hills.

Where Speedsters usually rely on reinforced nacelles with steel hoops behind the occupants for roll-over protection the PureSpeed is the first road car to adopt the HALO system that has helped to protect the driver’s head of Formula 1 racecars since the 2018 season.

The safety system in the Mercedes-AMG PureSpeed consists of a robust centrally mounted tubular steel bracket firmly attached to the car’s structure. This aerodynamically optimised component splits into a Y-shape behind the occupants, joining the rigid roll-over bars concealed beneath the two aerodynamic scoops that are an integral part of the bodyshell structure.

To protect the car from the elements when parked, a weather cover is provided that stretches over the interior and HALO and fastens to the wheel arches. Also standard is a custom-made indoor cover to protect the car from dust and scratches in the garage. Made from a breathable outer skin of tear-resistant synthetic fibres it has an anti-static flannel inner lining.

In the snug cockpit, the deeply sculpted AMG Performance seats hold occupants firmly in place to resist the g-forces generated in fast cornering. Integrated leather pads on the back continue the visually flowing lines of the seats, while the deep-pile AMG floor mats echo their colour, design and decorative stitching. The door sill trim is also upholstered in leather, and the AMG Performance steering wheel continues the crystal white/black two-tone colour concept.

An analogue clock, custom made by IWC Schaffhausen, is prominently displayed in the middle of the dashboard in a glossy black drop-shaped housing on a base made of visible carbon-fibre that takes its design cues from the HALO and makes the clock appear to float above the dashtop.

When you are not listening to the baritone voice of the V8 motor the Burmester High-End 3D Surround Sound System with 15 speakers and 1,170 watts of system power delivers your choice of music with great fidelity.