Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, Carbon

Mercedes-Benz showed the Vision SLR concept at the North American International Auto Show in 1999, drawing on the 1955 300 SLR and on closed-wheel Formula One cars; the letters stand for Sport Leicht Rennsport. Mercedes did the styling and McLaren the engineering, manufacture and testing, moving the engine about a metre back for better weight distribution. The production car was unveiled on 17 November 2003 and built at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking until 2010, 2,157 cars in all. Its hand-built 5.4-litre supercharged V8 made 626 PS and 780 Nm through a five-speed AMG Speedshift R automatic, with carbon ceramic brakes, an active rear air brake and exhausts that exit at the sides.

FrontiArt finishes the whole body in exposed carbon weave, the pattern running over the long bonnet, the side gills, the roof and the boot lid. Against it the trim is bright: the twin headlamps, the three-pointed star in the grille, the chrome bars and the SLR badge on the tail. Black multi-spoke wheels show red brake calipers, and the red cabin can be seen through the windscreen and the rear window. The butterfly doors are closed in the photographs, and the car sits on a carbon weave base. FrontiArt builds it in resin at 1:18.