With doors agape, the 2011 SLS greeted visitors at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show. This is the car that Mercedes is using to ignite our memories of the 1955 Mille Miglia and Stirling Moss. But wait, didn’t they just do that with the McLaren SLR Stirling Moss?. In person, it’s clear to see that the driver sits acres away from the nose of the car, much like the SLR McLaren this car effectively replaces as well as the BMW Z4 we drove in 2009. And although both the SLS and the baby BMW are rear-wheel drive two-seaters, the similarities end there. Whereas the Merc has a 6.2L V8 and pedestrian-arresting gullwing doors, the BMW is more conventional with its normal doors and straight-six engine. There’s also the matter of the $200,000 difference in price between the two, but no one said that a sense of occasion was cheap. In fact, it most assuredly isn’t. The SLS had a presence that had people flocking to its rotating stand, despite the lack of professional female accoutrement.

But why should you bother with a plane ticket to Chicago when you have CarEnvy.ca to do that for you? With our ever-expanding collection of 360˚ videos, it’s just like you’re there. Except you’re in the warmth of your home or office and not under the migraine-inducing lights of McCormick Hall. The things we do for our readers…

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