At $25,500, Could This Renntech-tuned 2005 Mercedes Sl600 Wrench Open Your Wallet?

The advertisement for today's Nice Price aliases No Dice SL600 claims nan car's twin-turbo V12 has been massaged by RENNTech, resulting successful a 635-horsepower output. That's thing to sneeze at, but we'll still person to find if its value tag is thing much than a fever dream.

Everybody likes to beryllium an insider. You know, get nan backstage pass. In nan automotive world, it's cool to cognize nan mill codes denoting capacity editions aliases typical mods. It's cool, that is, until that knowledge goes mainstream.

That's what happened to yesterday's 1997 Chevy Camaro Z28 30th Anniversary edition. Not nan day part, mind you, nan Z28 part. Originally, Z28 served arsenic thing much than an soul RPO (Regular Production Number) codification signifying a action of parts that would make nan Camaro eligible for SCCA Trans-Am racing. It wasn't intended to designate a model, but savvy buyers began to mention to nan action codification arsenic such, and a prima was born.

That prima dimmed a bully spot pinch nan car we looked astatine yesterday. At $19,000, it recovered fewer of you racing to its defense. That value was deemed excessively precocious successful nan comments and resulted successful a 79% No Dice loss.

It's easy to look astatine nan Z28 arsenic a factory-tuned type of nan modular Camaro. Mercedes follows a akin way pinch its in-house tuner, AMG. That's not to say, however, that nan company's non-AMG products are a bunch of slouches. Nor has nan take of AMG arsenic nan company's location set closed nan doorway connected extracurricular tuners, arsenic made evident by this 2005 Mercedes-Benz SL 600 pinch its RENNTech-modded engine.

RENNTech (not RennTeck. Come on, seller, it's written correct location connected nan intake cover) is simply a Mercedes tuning master institution operating retired of Stuart, Florida. It was founded successful 1989 by Hartmut Feyhl, who had antecedently spent 12 years moving astatine AMG earlier that institution was pulled into Daimler proper. For nan R230 SL 600, RENNTech offers respective different stages of tune, nan lowest of which bumps nan output of nan 5.5-liter M275 V12 from an already awesome 493 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque to a staggering 635 horsepower and 780 lb-ft of twist.

That's what nan seller claims this car has, though a peek nether nan hood reveals that nan motor features RENNTech's c fibre aerial intake, which is portion of nan R2 tune. The tuner claims this modification is tin of producing 650 horsepower and a afloat 800 lb-ft of torque.

That massaged twin-turbo V12 mill is tightly packed into nan chemoreceptor of nan SL's two-seat hardtop convertible body. Matched to nan motor is nan modular Mercedes five-speed automatic. There's nary denotation successful nan advertisement whether that, too, has been modified by RENNTech, though nan institution does connection specified a service.

The advertisement claims nan car to beryllium well-maintained and boasts that it is simply a "Beautiful Vehicle to drive." If you're a instrumentality of nan R230's neo-retro styling, past this is simply a beautiful beautiful car to look astatine arsenic well. The heavy achromatic overgarment looks lustrous and, on pinch nan dense tint connected nan windows, lends nan car a sinister look.

There is 1 imaginable flaw, however. The car wears black-chromed alloy wheels, which are directional and frustratingly swoosh guardant connected nan near broadside of nan car and backward connected nan correct side. They look particularly goofy connected nan rider side, truthful immoderate replacement wheels mightiness beryllium successful order. The tires wrapped astir those wheels look to person plentifulness of tread, but we don't spot a day code, and nan advertisement doesn't show america their age. Overall, nan car has a specified 50,000 miles connected nan clock.

Of course, nan R230's statement piece, for illustration that of its R231 successor, is its fancy mechanical apical and bi-way footwear lid. That allows for open-air motoring erstwhile that is desired, and a quiet, unafraid abstraction erstwhile it is not.

That seems to activity arsenic it should, since we spot nan car successful some unfastened and closed forms. Beneath that apical is simply a compartment swaddled successful leather and lukewarm wood. This is an SL truthful it's besides rife pinch each sorts of gadgets, making for a panoply of levers to propulsion and buttons to press. Aside from immoderate very insignificant abrading of nan stitching connected nan driver's spot broadside bolster caused by ingress and egress, it each appears to beryllium successful stunning condition.

The seller describes nan car arsenic being successful fantabulous information overall, and nan pictures backmost this assertion up. The only spot wherever nan car's position falls a small level is successful nan motor bay, which could guidelines a bully detailing, arsenic it appears to beryllium somewhat dusty.

The dusty motor bay notwithstanding, nan car, correct down to its title, seems cleanable enough. The wheels, too, shouldn't beryllium a woody slayer since they are much an constituent of individual sensation than an existent issue. At $25,500, this also seems for illustration a unsocial opportunity to get into a V12 supercar astatine a perchance not-so-supercar price. Consider really galore different 600-plus-horsepower cars 1 could bargain for that benignant of cash. Now, really galore of those would person a smooth-as-butter twin-turbo V12 nether nan hood to brag about?

Does that, successful fact, look nan case? Is this seemingly well-maintained RENNTech-modded SL 600 worthy nan $25,500 asking value arsenic it sits? Or does that value tag make this a cool Mercedes that's a basking mess?

You decide!

Nice Price aliases No Dice:

Portland, Oregon, Craigslist, aliases spell here if nan advertisement disappears.

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