I’m sorry, I know this 2009 Mercedes SLR McLaren 722S is really unique and special, but I just cannot look past the paint job. Other people on staff like it a lot, they think it’s a nice school bus shade of yellow-orange, but all I see a garish jack-o-lantern. I will attempt to look past that and tell you about it.
Listed for sale on MotorGT for $1,050,000, this 722S is apparently one-of-kind.
If that’s true, then it seems like this McLaren Orange (it’s historic!) thing has been for sale before... at about half the price it is at the moment. And that was only three years ago. That’s some strong appreciation.
When the 722S (the roadster variant of the 722) was announced in 2008, we learned that production would be limited to 150 examples. At the end of 2010, as MotorGT tells it, McLaren Special Operations created a customization program for the SLR and offered it to about 25 variants of the SLR, with the exception of the windscreen-less Stirling Moss edition.
Of those 25 cars, only six of them were 722Ss. These six cars got a different body kit, were lighter, received better downforce and an improved suspension system. This particular two-tone 722S is apparently the only one with a McLaren upgraded engine management software, intercoolers and sports exhaust. This all adds up to about 100 extra horsepower. Out of the box, the 722S came with 650 horsepower from its supercharged 5.5-liter V8, so this orange one probably makes something like 750 HP now. It’s absurd.
The Mercedes SLR McLarens represented a collaboration between Mercedes and McLaren. The 722 was a more powerful special edition that was named after the starting number of Stirling Moss’s Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR, which won the Mille Miglia.
The 722S does show up on the list of cars bound by the Show and Display laws, so you might want to make sure you’re okay with that before signing over the funds. But don’t worry, because MotorGT also offers “great lease rates and financing.”