The Mercedes-Benz SL has, from the day it was born in 1952, always been one of the world's most desirable cars. What started out as a racing machine with gullwing doors and more glamour than a Hollywood starlet - even winning the 24hrs of Le Mans - has slowly evolved into what we see before us here: only the sixth generation in as many decades.
That kind of slow, measured evolution is what has made the car just so good, so complete in every respect. Granted, there has been the occasional mid-gen facelift, but for a model to go fundamentally unchanged for a whole decade it has to be truly excellent to start with. Mercedes-Benz knows that whatever they do to the SL it will have to last a very long time, while other pretenders to its throne come and go.
SL might stand for Sports Leicht (Sports Light), but this is no sports car. Instead, it's best viewed as a big, luxuriant grand tourer that combines effortless performance, a cosseting ride and every conceivable gadget in its cabin. And this new one is no exception.
Until the SL63 AMG roars onto the scene, this SL 500 is the range topper, with only the V6-powered SL 350 beneath it. The 500 has, shoehorned into its engine bay, a twin-turbo, 4.7L V8 that's good for 435hp and an electronically governed 250kph maximum speed. Acceleration is incredibly swift, with the SL 500 cracking 100kph from rest in just 4.6 seconds, which is almost Porsche 911 territory. But as I said, it's no sports car.
In 500-guise, the SL weighs 1,785kg, which might sound like a lot but is, in fact, lighter than its rivals and no less than 125kg lighter than the previous model - a weight saving that most manufacturers make a terrific song and dance about. If this was a Lamborghini it would be a Superleggera, and that's down to its almost entire aluminium construction, where the old SL was a predominantly steel structure. Merc's engineers have proudly gone on record as saying that, with this new SL, they were working on the boundaries of what's possible with aluminium cars, and they have done themselves proud; the car is quite incredible.
So it's lighter than before, yet it's also significantly wider and longer. And that pays huge dividends inside the SL's wonderful cabin. My test car has been specced with an unfortunate shade of brown leather upholstery, which jars somewhat with the external metallic matt grey paintwork, but that's the only negative. The rest of it is an exercise in class, sophistication and a grown-up approach to design - it's a place that makes you feel good about yourself and the world.
At the pull of a toggle switch cunningly concealed within the centre armrest, the aluminium roof folds away in 18 seconds - something I decide to take advantage of while I still can (it's getting warmer, isn't it?). Roof up or down, the SL is a disarmingly handsome brute and, to these eyes, the best looking variant since the third generation, which went out of production back in 1989. Its front end, in particular, is overtly masculine and is way better resolved than the unfortunate (and rarely seen) facelift of the previous model. This, make no mistake, is a car that turns heads wherever it goes.
And boy, does it go. More suited to straight-line speed and point-and-squirt overtaking moves, the turbos gently whistle as they spin up before catapulting the car with breathtaking, muscular power. The engine remains cool, calm and collected, never seeming stressed, only letting itself be heard when you're really gunning it. The rest of the time, it just burbles away unobtrusively, just as befits one of the world's finest cars.
Refinement has always been a key part of the SL's appeal, and the only thing that lets down this test car is its (optional) AMG sports suspension. On smooth surfaces it's a dream but taking speed bumps even at crawling speeds results in some horrible bump-thump. The car is a natural cross-continent tourer, not a trackday weapon, and I suspect the standard suspension would be better suited to its rather benign nature.
Roof down and with windows and rear windbreaker in place, my wife's hat remained on her head, even when pressing on, showing just how far convertible design has come in recent years. But there is a drawback to top-down motoring in the SL, and that's the folding roof's intrusion on boot space. The cabin is replete with plenty of cubby boxes and handy storage pockets, though, so with some careful planning you might just manage to squeeze in enough stuff for a weekend away sans roof.
And that's what this car is all about: the good life. It's a status symbol, of that there is no doubt, but it's one we don't resent seeing other people driving. Because it's sheer class on wheels - a supremely stylish expression of German engineering prowess - and this sixth generation represents a massive leap forward in all respects.
Teams
India (playing XI): Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami
South Africa (squad): Faf du Plessis (c), Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Zubayr Hamza, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Senuran Muthusamy, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Vernon Philander, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Rudi Second
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
Company%20Profile
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FINAL SCORES
Fujairah 130 for 8 in 20 overs
(Sandy Sandeep 29, Hamdan Tahir 26 no, Umair Ali 2-15)
Sharjah 131 for 8 in 19.3 overs
(Kashif Daud 51, Umair Ali 20, Rohan Mustafa 2-17, Sabir Rao 2-26)
The biog
Name: Atheja Ali Busaibah
Date of birth: 15 November, 1951
Favourite books: Ihsan Abdel Quddous books, such as “The Sun will Never Set”
Hobbies: Reading and writing poetry
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000
On sale: now
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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Barbie
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