Carlsson the baby of the Hartge brothers since 1989 when it was founded has risen to fame due its exclusive work with Mercedes-Benz. It has taken the company from Gut Wiesenhof, Germany into a league of its own. For celebrating the 20th anniversary of Carlsson therefore a special something was required. Something that won’t just be regarded as just another tuned Mercedes car but more than that.
The 2010 Carlsson C25 is a result of these anniversary celebrations. A grand touring coupe, this started as a Mercedes Benz SL65 AMG and then went berserk. As per a statement from Carlsson, a total of just 25 units would be built with the price for each being fixed at a cool $650,000 apiece. The design goal has been kept simple, to produce a car that can be termed an all-rounder and would be as much at home on a race track as it would be on everyday roads.
This car is not as per the looks and likes of the Mercedes models that we have seen till now from the Germany based company. Breaking away from the routine, Rolf Schepp, the designer at Carlsson has given the C25 a different look all together. The Carlsson CK65 RS can still be recognized as a CL coupe even though it has been provided with a super luxury interior and a chrome grille while also producing a thumping 700 hp.
Rolph Schepp provided the designs for the 2010 Carlsson C25, on which mock up models of full size were made at the DMS Design located in Munich. After having achieved all proportions correctly and running the full wind tunnel tests only after that the work on the prototype started.
For the engine work started with the immensely powerful twin turbo 6.0 liter V12 that provides the power boost to the Mercedes Benz SL56 AMG. The exhaust, management systems and the induction have all been modified by the engineers at Carlsson to get the end product of an engine that delivers 743 hp and 848 lb ft of torque that is electronically limited.
The suspension system is basically composed of a standard set up which though has been enhanced by way of intelligent management based on C-Tronic technology which is Carlsson’s in-house management module that provides for adapting the suspension to both the road conditions as also the style of driving. Providing stoppage power to the car is the 15.9 inch brake disk which along with six-piston calipers at the front along with 15.0-inch discs and four-piston calipers at the rear make up the braking system. The forged wheels of 20 inch dia are wrapped in 335.25 R20 Dunlop tires for the rear and 265/30R20 rubber for the front.
The interior is very well customized as well and has got everything that goes into the making of a Carlsson car even if it means some parts are prototypes at best. The color scheme is based on the request of the first customer as per Carlsson. It thus has orange stripes for the color scheme. Otherwise the interior is simple to look at and there is no extra stuff which would make it look gaudy.
A full assessment of what the final version is going to be from the interior is yet too early to state. There would be a lot many changes and with Carlsson, it is the customer who is the king. So while there might be the somewhat odd stripped-down clubsport version on one hand, there might also be the version laced with 24 Carat gold trimmings. In fact, anything is possible here.
In any case, it doesn’t matter what the final production version will look like though what’s certain is that it would definitely look something that’s very special. Add to that the fact that there will be only 25 C25 ever to be built and that too, there will only be just one C25 per country. So what all of this boils down to is that there is rare chances that one would get to see one in their lifetime actually plying on the road.
Whatever else it is the 2010 Carlsson C25 would mark the turning point in the history of the Gut Wiesenhof based company that has otherwise been known to be interwoven with the Mercedes. It still is but the C25 is the first truly ingenious car to come from the old Carlsson stables. And that it would go on to turn countless heads is guaranteed.
Source: insideline
