By William Byrd
Occasionally you come across something truly extraordinary on social media. This morning I rubbed my eyes and squinted at my iPhone and said aloud “wait what, no way”. My local cool car spotting Facebook group features posts of all sorts of interesting vehicles that pop up around DC, MD, and VA. It’s an eclectic mix of stuff to be sure. The last few spots were a brand new Bentley Continental GT, a heavily modified VW GTI, a Lexus LFA, and a… 2009 Mercedes SLR Stirling Moss!
One of 75 produced.
It was available only to the existing SLR owners and each car cost north of $1 million. Most descriptions note that the Moss was not legal for sale in the U.S. But there it is, driving amongst the masses.
Brian Phillips (@amg_bp) spotted the windscreen-less Benz from inside a Mercedes C43 AMG.
This has to rank pretty high on the OH MY GOD DID YOU SEE THAT? meter. Do you have any such encounters out on the road? Share in the comments below.
Kamil Kaluski
“Most descriptions note that the Moss was not legal for sale in the U.S. But there it is, driving amongst the masses.”
It’s on the NHTSA Show or Display eligibility list. Both the “eligible” and “not eligible” lists are available here:
https://www.nhtsa.gov/importing-vehicle
although the posted versions haven’t been updated since 2014.
Didn’t they give Lewis Hamilton one when it came out? I know that’s back over on the other side of the pond but for some reason I seem to remember that.
Damn, but that would suck to drive, given the lack of windscreen. What a ridiculous vehicle. Rare sighting indeed, but I’m not envious of the owner.
Darn, Zentropy. I think you are missing the forest for the trees here. This is a tribute car; a modern recreation of one of the greatest cars driven by one of the greatest drivers. Googles were good enough for Stirling Moss …
https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Moss-with-Trophy.jpg
When he drove the original 300 SLR #722 to victory in the 1955 Mille Miglia beating Fangio in a sister car.
https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Moss-Piloting-722-at-Mille-Miglia.jpg
But yeah, no trailer hitch either so it’s not very practical.
Moss’s car had a windscreen. The SLR tribute doesn’t, which is both inaccurate and stupid.
Just like my 200ft yacht.
I’ve seen a couple of Bugatti Type 35 or similar (there are a few), one stopped on the side of the road, another parked in a normal house garage I drove past, oh and a 35c on a trailer on its way home from an historic race meeting.
Given their insane prices recently, I was pretty shocked to see a Ferrari 275GTB and a MB 300SL Gullwing driving along with regular traffic, within a couple of weeks of each other in West Palm Beach a couple of years ago.
I saw a Konigsegg (or however you spell it) once.
Best spot I ever got a picture of was a ’73 3.0 CSL.