Mercedes SL63 AMG 2008

The SL 63 AMG arrived with the 2008 revision of the R230-generation SL and replaced the supercharged SL 55 AMG that had defined the model earlier in the decade. The swap was significant: out went forced induction, in came the 6.2-litre naturally aspirated V8 rated at 525 hp, the first engine AMG designed from a blank sheet rather than developing from an existing Mercedes-Benz unit. Each one is assembled by a single technician at Affalterbach, whose name goes on the plaque on the intake manifold.

Around the engine sits a grand tourer rather than a track car. The folding steel roof turns the SL from a closed coupé into a full roadster without a separate cover, the hydraulic Active Body Control suspension resists roll with pressure rather than with very stiff springs, and the cabin is trimmed for distance work. The result is a car that can be driven every day and still pulls hard to the top of the rev range.

The 6.2-litre V8 and the AMG Speedshift MCT gearbox

The engine, badged 6.3 in tribute to the 1960s 300 SEL, actually displaces just over 6.2 litres and breathes through four valves per cylinder with no supercharger or turbocharger anywhere in the system. The SL 63 was also the first model to use AMG's Speedshift MCT seven-speed transmission, which deletes the torque converter and starts the car on a wet multi-plate clutch instead. That removes the slip and cushioning of a conventional automatic, so shifts land more sharply and the throttle feels directly connected to the rear axle, while the gearbox still behaves like an automatic in traffic. Later SL 63s moved to a twin-turbocharged 5.5-litre V8, which makes this generation the last naturally aspirated one.

In the Batman Garage collection the SL 63 represents AMG at the moment it stopped modifying Mercedes engines and started building its own. That same V8 architecture, enlarged in detail, went into the SLS AMG, the most collectible open AMGs of the period are covered in our guide to the SL 65 and SLS AMG Black Series, and the modern interpretation of the same open-top flagship idea appears as the AMG PureSpeed. For the era's halo car, the SLR McLaren 722 Edition sits in our legends section.