Carlsson C25 super coupé (2010) first official pictures

Mercedes tuner Carlsson will whisk the covers off this slinky new sports coupe at the 2010 Geneva motor show. The new C25 is Carlsson’s take on the Merc CL and this reskinned supercar will be one of the world premieres at the Palexpo arena.
 
Carlsson says it’s the company’s first own-developed and badged road car and it just about looks convincingly different enough from the SL to warrant that claim, we reckon.
 
Just 25 C25s will be built, each powered by a breathed-on Mercedes 743bhp bi-turbo 6.0-litre V12. This year’s entire allocation of C25s has already been sold out, according to chief exec Markus Schuster.

The C25 supercar is Ferrari-fast, dispatching 62mph in just 3.7 seconds. Thank the Ironman torque output of 848lb ft. The C25 is so muscly they’ve had to restrict the torque of the blown lump from 974lb ft. Just imagine the trouble that’d cause at the 20-inch rear wheels…
 
Top whack is put at a somewhat theoretical 219mph. Good job they’ve fitted 405mm race discs up front and 380mm rotors at the back.

‘There are more than enough super sports car in this world which can only be safely driven on a race track,’ said Schuster. ‘Therefore, we deliberately wanted to develop a car which is highly exclusive on the one hand and can be used for the daily journey to office on the other hand. Therefore, a Super-GT which can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in only 3.7 seconds and still offers a very pleasant driving comfort. All security-relevant regulations such as pedestrian protection, crash behaviour, ESP, ABS, Airbag systems are identical to large series editions with most modern standards.’

Dig deep: the C25 costs a dizzying £370,000 plus local taxes...

By Tim Pollard