2022 Mercedes-AMG SL Goes Off in Several New Directions

In the last 10 years, the slice of vehicle sales that were cars has plummeted in the United States from about 50 percent to less than 25 percent. That's why the only car in a Ford showroom is the Mustang and the only cars at your Buick dealer are used. The premium-car makers haven't been immune to this trend, and Mercedes-Benz's car percentage fell from 80 percent levels in the early part of the century to less than 30 percent this year. Obviously, this results in fewer cars being sold, with the brand's two-seaters under particular pressure. The smaller SLC roadster was discontinued last year, and the even the venerable SL skipped the 2021 model year.

That one, however, is coming back for 2022 with a number of changes designed to broaden its appeal without compromising the luxury-convertible vibe that has been unique in a market tilting towards overtly sporty two-seat droptops. While Mercedes has released little hard information about the new model (codenamed R232), we recently had a chance to ride along in a pre-production example, driven by Moritz Stockmeier, senior manager for powertrain software and drivability for Mercedes-AMG. Here's what we gleaned from the passenger seat.

As our driver's title indicates, this new version of the SL will become the fourth Mercedes-AMG model specific to the brand, following the GT coupe/roadster, GT four-door coupe, and the One hypercar. This transfer to Mercedes sporting division is, in some ways, a return to the SL's roots in the 1950s as a high-performance, roadgoing coupe that evolved from the Le Mans winner. That sporting orientation has been AWOL from the SL since the 300SL was replaced by the beautiful but decidedly more sedate 230SL in 1963. The new SL, developed by AMG and badged as such, perhaps hopes to shed its nearly 50-year-old image as a Hollywood producer's car and make more of a muscular statement.

At the same time, Mercedes seems wary of giving up those posh buyers and making the car singularly focused. Therefore, this new model will come with rear seats for the first time in decades. They were last offered on the R107 model (1972-1989) but only in Europe. These seats are very small, comparable to the rear seats in a Porsche 911, but Mercedes hopes they will broaden the car's practical appeal, even if only to carry stacks of movie scripts.

Another concession to the marketplace is standard all-wheel drive, which has never even been optional on previous SLs. This change recognizes that it's increasingly hard to sell rear-drive cars in the northern latitudes of the U.S. That's too valuable a market to write off in these days of fewer car sales. And with the AMG version of the 4Matic all-wheel-drive system, the car's sporting balance will not likely be compromised.

One more change is the shift from the retractable hard top, introduced two generations ago, back to a soft top. Among the reasons offered is that the soft top is somewhat lighter and takes up less space than the folding hard top. Better packaging of the top will help make room for the rear seats without increasing the length of the car.