A lot of ink is being spilled over the Mercedes AMG SLS‘s unique doors. Arthur St. Antoine of Motor Trend falls decidedly into the pro-”gullwing” camp.
The new SLS is a seemingly over-engineered, ultra-fast, thoroughly refined coupe — with the can’t-top-this glam of those swing-up doors.
While Marty Padgett of MotorAuthority feels the unique doors demanded design sacrifices.
The gullwing’s doors, and the underlying mechanicals, really dictate some shapes on the SLS AMG that just aren’t as emotional as they could be with conventional doors.
Gullwing Doors have always inspired strong feelings. The Mercedes 300SL of the 1950′s that inspired the SLS is commonly rated one of the most beautiful cars of all time. However two other production cars that aped its avian apertures (the DeLorean DMC-12 and Bricklin SV-1) were both epic failures and on a recent list of the 50 Ugliest Cars of all time. The SLS however, is scoring an excellent 91 on Motormouths so far.
