Mercedes-Benz Mille Miglia
50th Anniversary Twin Set
Scalextric have released a special limited edition box set of the 1955 Mercedes-Benz SLR and the 2005 Mercedes McLaren SLR. The production run is limited to 8,000 units. There are two cars in this set and I have reviewed them separately so I can go into a little more detail. This is the second review on the 2005 Mercedes McLaren SLR. You can find the review on the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR at the below link.
PART II: 2005 Mercedes SLR McLaren 72250
HISTORY
In 2005 Mercedes teamed up with McLaren to produce a new 722. The carbon fibre grand tourismo body design and the classical styling elements from the legendary SLR racing car of 1955 were blended to bring us the fantastic Mercedes SLR McLaren 722. Its high performance 5.5 litre V8 supercharged engine can accelerate the car to 62 mph in 3.8 seconds, reach 180 mph in just 28.8 seconds and go on to a top speed of 207mph. Taking much of its aerodynamic design and cutting edge technology from Formula One, the SLR is one of the fastest road going sports cars.
In 2005 Mercedes teamed up with McLaren to produce a new 722. The carbon fibre grand tourismo body design and the classical styling elements from the legendary SLR racing car of 1955 were blended to bring us the fantastic Mercedes SLR McLaren 722. Its high performance 5.5 litre V8 supercharged engine can accelerate the car to 62 mph in 3.8 seconds, reach 180 mph in just 28.8 seconds and go on to a top speed of 207mph. Taking much of its aerodynamic design and cutting edge technology from Formula One, the SLR is one of the fastest road going sports cars.
SPECIFICATIONS2005 Mercedes SLR McLaren 72250:
- Motor Mabuchi SP 18k rpm
- Overall length 146 mm
- Car Weight 84 gm
- In-Line Mid Mounted 2 wheel drive
- Wheelbase 83 mm
- Gear ratio 9:27
- Rear Magnet Rectangular stepped 2 mm
- Down-force 161-194 gm
PRESENTATION
The first thing you will notice about this set is how stunning it looks in its silver presentation box. As this set is homage to the legendary Silver Arrows, what other colour could Scalextric use? The Scalextric presentation box is very nice and removing the cars from the box's base is easy. The base section of the box simply lifts up exposing the slots metal screws which are tight and firmly secure the models in place.
The set comes with the usual Scalextric limited edition collector's plastic card. A nice touch is that the cars are printed in colour on the card. There is also a brief history of the cars on the inside of the boxes lid.
QUALITY and DETAIL
Like the 300 SLR, the McLaren SLR has been finished to a high standard. The front of the model is particularly impressive and detailed. The entire front part of the nose is attached to the chassis via 2 internal screws. You can see the body join line either side the Mercedes emblem and down the side of the hear lights, (you can see the disassembled slot in one of the bottom photos). It must have been quite a challenge for the Scalextric modelers to accurately capture the complicated shape McLaren Mercedes designed.
One detail that Scalextric have missed is the colour of the front grill which is bright silver in colour. From the pictures I've researched it's much darker, (almost black) but this is a small thing and could be fixed is so desired.
The rear end looks pretty good although not as impressive as the front, all rear badges are decals. The detail on the rear lights is silver plastic with white decal dots. The slot comes with front, (bright) and rear lights which is something I wish more manufactures would do with their slots.
All bonnet and side vents are completely through the body, the twin side exhausts are attached to the chassis. I particularly like things like the small '722' decal on this model, Scalextric have not cut too many detail corners that I can see. One thing I would have liked to see is rubber rear vision mirrors on this model. For some reason Scalextric put them on some models, (the recent Porsche RS Spyder) but not on others. The models mirrors are exposed and sit out from the body so rubber mirrors would have been the sensible choice.
As you can see, the wheels on the 722 McLaren are a new design from the previous 3 releases. They closely resemble the special wheels McLaren designed for the 722 and I think they look excellent. They give the slot a tougher look in my opinion although I don't own one of the older McLarens. A nice touch is the Mercedes emblem in the centre of the wheel.
The internal dash and driver detail is good. For some reason the driver is driving with one hand, I have no idea what he is doing with the other. The driver would have looked better if he had been changing gears perhaps.
The body comes away from the chassis via 4 screws, (2 front and 2 back). The 2 mid outer screws remove the driver's interior section of the model, similar to Scalextric's GT40s. The motor is an in-line, mid mounted configuration which doesn't seem to affect the model's performance. Putting the model back together is very simple. This car also comes with a small 'limited' edition metal sticker under the chassis, (just in front of the magnet) of the car. 
PERFORMANCE
The 722 comes standard with a stepped bar magnet placed forward of the rear axle. There are 2 alternative locations for the magnet if you wish to reduce magnetic down force on the slot's rear. I was very happy with how this slot moved along the track so didn't alter the magnets position. The rear tires are 11mm wide which suits the 722 and don't hurt rear end grip through the corners. I found I had to push the slot quite hard to get it to deslot.
Only a small amount of tire truing was necessary and this car ran straight from the box very well around my track. The 722 comes standard with Scalextrics 18K Mabuchi SP motor so straight line speed isn't as quick as I'd like it to be. Considering the 722s top speed is 344km/h, this slot would look the part going a bit faster. I'll probably be upgrading the 18K Mabuchi to a 22 or 25K in the future. However, this isn't something that should deter you from owning this slot.
The McLaren 722 is a very impressive slot both visually and on the track. Not everyone likes road cars but they can be a lot of fun to drive especially if they are stunning super cars like the 722. Overall, the Mercedes Mille Miglia box set is beautifully presented and a very impressive addition to my collection. Get your hands on one if you can.
Manic Score Breakdown - Mille Miglia Box Set- Sex Appeal: 6th Gear
- Set Collectibility: 6th Gear
- Build Quality: 6th Gear
- Attention to Detail: 6th Gear
- 'RTR' Performance: 5th Gear
Let's just hope Scalextric decide to release the McLaren 722 GT
If you want to read the first part of this review on the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR, you can find it at the below link.
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