Altho I remain a die-hard Datsun fan, I have to give credit where it's due.
Mercedes Benz has announced for 2009 a rather remarkable line up of car designs, including the return of their fabled GULL WING COUPE.

Other features on the MB list include a 518bhp 378 ci supercharged V8, with 465 ft lbs of torque, working thru a SEVEN SPEED gearbox. Impressive to me are the massive 15 1/2" front rotors, with DUAL twin-piston caliper brakes per wheel.

The price tag of $150,000 is designed to keep these cars out of the hands of mere mortals such as I , but in another 20 yrs or so they should become available on Craig's List for more reasonable amounts.

(Of course by then, I'll be too old to drive and won't be able to see beyond the hood).

As soon as I saw the retro-style Thunderbird released a few years ago, I thought how great it would be to see a re-release of the 1950s Gullwing 300SL. Racing greats Juan Manuel Fangio and Sterling Moss made these cars famous in such world-class races as the Targa Florio, Nurburgring and Mille Miglia when I was a teen. Can't wait until NISSAN comes up with a Retro-Style 240-ish coupe for this decade! It would assure the future of Z Car clubz like ourz for another 50 years!

Frank T

Will the new one fly if you leave the doors open? 8=D That does look good. I too give credit to other cars. Matter of fact we're going to go test drive some tomorrow, time for a new car, mostly for the wife. The choices are new Honda Accord or a pre owned Lexus. I'm nudging her to buy the IS300. We'll also try some others, like the Acura RSX defiantly. Sorry, no 350 or other Nissans in thought. I too would like to see a modern looking 240z come out, but for now, I guess I'll have to modernize my 240 and that will take some money, so I just might have to thin out my Z stock. So I saw the Infinity G37 today, is the 370Z out now?

I saw some brief footage about the 370 on YouTube recently ~ an amateur photg followed one down the road for a mile or so; looks sleek. Don't know if I can find the same footage again or not ~ the Z looked as if it was painted Camo or matt brown or something. It was filmed in Arizona, if I recall correctly. If I find it again, I'll try posting it or at least print a map you can use to find it yrslf. (I'm not good at these things).
Datsun did the same thing with the 240 during early '69, sending a few cars here for extensive road tests, then returning them to Japan to be disassembled and studied for wear & failure.
Before you buy anything, why not PM Bob Sharp (who still sells), and see if he knows of anything your wife could live with and you could enjoy (when she lets you?)

Frank

Sent you two videos, Paul. Couldn't figure out how to get them in here.
Frank

So they send the cars here to test out our lousy roads. 8=D What does Bob sell besides Z's? She does like the 350, but needs 4 seats. I did try to convince her with the G30, and will probably test one. Well, we are just going to test drive today and then think about the decision.

June 2009 UPDATE:

MB has announced that this Gullwing will be released NEXT YEAR instead of this year . And they will be titled as 2011 cars.

Oh well ~ I've waited nearly 50 years to see a new one, I guess I can wait a year longer.

Frank

OK, they have finally announced the release of this 565hp monster car.
Can't wait to see one, and maybe Thor will get to test one on the German Autobahn?

http://www.caranddriver.com.br/reviews/ ... cond_drive

Frank

_________________
1970 240Z

Frank

I've a rather interesting short video someone forwarded to me which shows MB engineers barrel rolling one of these beauties in a most unusual fashion. We all know I'm not enough of a geek to get it onto the club site,but if you can pm me your current email I'll at least forward it to you to do w/ as you like.

Al

Roger! Check your email.

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1970 240Z

The GT-R comes to mind as a sedate family sedan that Patti would not
only enjoy, but also would look great in!
~Rick~

Al, I tried to Post it but failed also. It must be protected or something.

It wasn't a true barrel roll, anyway ~ it was more of a 'batman' or 'Men in Black' inside-the-tunnel spiral . Probably done with graphics.

Thanks for the effort, anyway.

This Gullwing Mercedes will be available this Fall, for the 2011 model year.

_________________
1970 240Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4NZ10nl ... re=related

http://www.crankmotoring.com/?p=2283


Here's a video of the MB SLS AMG.

The engine is a dry-sump 383ci 4-cam hemispherical head fuel injected V8 with 11.5:1 compression, pumping 571bhp to the rear wheels via a 7-spd trans and torque tube with positraction.

The car itself weighs barely more than 3,000lbs. The body weighs only 500lbs. That makes a Weight-to-Power ratio of about 5-to-1. The Cobra was 10:1. Bob Sharp's C-Production 240Z was 7:1. This is racecar material here.

Top speed is 197mph. 0-62mph in 3.3 seconds.

Rack and pinion steering adjusts to roadspeed. The alternator shuts off under hard acceleration to let the engine use more power.

Nobody's telling me how much it costs.

THORSTEN! YOU MUST TEST THIS CAR FOR US!

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1970 240Z

Frank, that has already happened. I could drive a SLS AMG a few weeks before my travel to the US. The owner, a Mercedes SL collector (this collection is unbelievable), got the first AMG version which was handed out to a customer. A great car even though I do not like the face design. Most expressive detail is - in my opinion - the brakes. They don't grab, they bite... The car is perfect, too perfect.
Honestly I must say: I'm not a Mercedes enthusiast, so my excitement keeps within limits.



Thor

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T. Link
Germany
1971 240z (HLS30-16506)

This is also a quite an MB http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24afjVqm2Uw little modified though.