A friend of mine stopped by to see me at work and show me his new (to him) ride. A 1996 Mercedes SL500. Black with stock appearing wheels, except they are 18's with P245/40/18 BFG's. Motor is stock down to the dual paper filters. He said something about this originally being a European version with more power than the U.S. model. I don't know but, man, I think my assometer is out of calibration or something. That big bastard is fast. Nice and smooth, but it will knock down 100 mph like a linebacker on a quarterback.

 

I was originally invited in a marketing research program when Merc first came out with the new 326hp SL in '87 I think it was. They had a 928s4, a 560SL, ad a XJ 12.
The Jag was unfortunately slow, the 560 was ok, but the 500 and the 928 were both great. They had Merc engineers riding with you in the 500's (they claimed they were the only 4 in the US at time- pre production models) and he limited me to 115mph. The real fun started with the 928, they had some high school kid in the car with you and he didn't give a *****. I had that thing going 153 on the 2 freeway in Pasadena, then hit traffic and had to shut her down. Fun time , fun cars. Tell your buddy congrats, now go and kick his a$$ with your L.

 

Yeah, it's a real nice ride. Even though it is not as fast as the L. It's funny how different it feels as a passenger. It feels faster when I am not in control of the vehicle. I've never been a passenger in my L. Myself and a few employees at the dealership are the only ones who have ever been behind the wheel.