A baby SLS AMG, which is slotted just above the SLK55 AMG, is confirmed to be in Mercedes-Benz’s future, according to a report from British publication Autocar. A senior official at Mercedes-Benz talked about the existence of a plan for a second sports car that shares the SLS’ image but is on a smaller scale. While the second model has a similarly exclusive image, it will be made more affordable. Continued after the jump!

Mercedes-Benz design chief Gordon Wagener said that the new car, tentatively named SSK, will have a much more modern look than the current SLS.

It will likely come in both coupe and soft-top roadster forms. The hardtop model won’t have gullwing doors and will instead have conventional hinged doors to save costs. Autocar said that the SSK might use a new 5.4-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 that is currently being developed for the next-generation CLS55 AMG.

There’s speculation that the new engine will produce close to 500 hp, and will likely be mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch transaxle lifted from the SLS. If approved for production, the SSK can be expected to reach dealerships in 2013. The car will be similarly priced as a Porsche 911 but will cost slightly less than the Audi R8.

[via autocar]

Tags: baby sls amg, car news, mercedes, Mercedes-Benz, mercedes-benz news, mercedes-benz sls amg, mercedes-benz ssk amg, mercedes-benzslsamg, ssk, ssk amg

This entry was posted on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 4:51 pm and is filed under 2009, 4wheels News, Automakers, Body style, Categories, Coupe, Mercedes-Benz, Sports cars, Worldwide, Year, Zone. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.