2009 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 S Roadster for sale

If there was ever a second-hand Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren worth buying, it’s this one.

Not only is it a very rare (one of only 150) version, it’s also being sold by Mercedes-Benz Classic’s All-Time Stars program, which has deemed the car to be in concours condition.

It’s travelled 25,800km, has already been through two owners, and is finished in ‘Crystal Antimon Grey’.

Its 5.4-litre supercharged V8 is good for 480kW, a sprint to 100km/h in just 3.6 seconds, and a top speed of 335km/h. Helpfully, Mercedes also points out it doesn’t have a sunroof.

The price? 1,240,000 Euros, which translates to AUD$1,950,000. Ouch.

As mentioned, this particular SLR is quite rare – nothing to do with its lack of sunroof. It’s the ‘722 S Roadster’, of which only 150 were built.

Its badging gives that away, but keen observers will also notice the ‘1000 Miglia’ sticker in the window.

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In this case, the sticker serves as a nod to the origin of the car’s name. In 1955, Mercedes-Benz factory driver Stirling Moss covered the entire 1596km distance of the race in 10 hours and 7 minutes.

It broke the record and it still stands today – primarily because the race hasn’t been run in that form since 1957.

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According to an article in Motorsport Magazine from the year of the race, Moss said at the time:

“I'm so happy that we've proved that a Britisher can win the Mille Miglia, and that the legend 'he who leads at Rome never leads at Brescia' is untrue — also, I feel we have made up for the two cars we wrote off in practice.

"We've rather made a mess of the record, haven't we — sort of spoilt it for anyone else, for there probably won't be another completely dry Mille Miglia for twenty years."

The Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR he drove to victory that year is actually quite reminiscent of the SLR 722 – 722 was the number on Moss’ car, and the time he began the race, 7:22am.