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You might not believe this, but 15 years ago Mercedes-Benz produced a car that hasn’t depreciated to nearly nothing. For a four year stretch from 2005 to 2008, the SL65 AMG was the king of the castle when it came to torque and horsepower in a car like this. The twin-turbocharged M275 6.0 liter V12 made 604 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque in a manner that you could really drive everyday. It wasn’t peaky power like you’d get from some of the Italian brands that make this kind of horsepower, but rather all torque as you expected that is enough to burn through tires that you have them on automatic reorder from Amazon. I’m not going to lie, as soft as the R230 is, the little touches to make the SL65 unique really do give it a more aggressive stance. This 2005 up for sale in Wisconsin that I wanted to check out today also has a little secret to make this one even a little more crazy.
For me, there is this constant back and forth between “They don’t make them like they used to” and “Newer cars can basically go forever with proper maintenance and repairs”. Today’s car falls in the latter half. Although I’m skeptical. Very skeptical. Why? In case you haven’t noticed the title, this is a 2007 Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG with over 322,000 miles on the odometer. Yes, this 6.0 liter twin-turbocharged whale of a car that produces 604 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque has somehow racked up over 322,000 miles. According to the helpful Carfax, this car registered just over 29,000 miles in its first three years – a totally normal amount. Then the next five years saw the odometer jump to 200,000 miles. Six months later, 250,000 miles. That is 275 miles every single day for six months. How? Why?
Some situations in life you do even when you know it is a bad idea and you will probably pay for it later. Like going back for that second piece of cake or buying a 15 year-old Mercedes-Benz with 738 horsepower and 840 lb-ft of torque. Okay, so maybe not too similar a set of examples, but you get the idea. What I’m trying to say is if a 2005 CL65 AMG with a RENNtech tune came up for sale that had enough power to spin the rear wheels at 60 mph, would you consider it? I think that answer depends on what your needs of a car is, do you have the budget, and are you currently under the influence of psychedelics? Still, my chest gets tight when I have to break a $100 bill, but this car is just so much for so little. How little?
There aren’t enough words to describe a Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG — both good and bad. You can probably guess the bad words, but I’m pretty high on these cars, especially the W221 chassis. I think the most impressive part is that you could have 604 horsepower and 738 ft-lb of torque in a normal four door sedan that can give you slow and gentle massage, all while being totally silent. Normally, to get that kind of power you would need to buy something Italian that is reliable and usable as a wild pack of possums. (Or maybe just buy a 911 Turbo.) Yes, you paid dearly for an S65 when new, over $200,000, but you got what you paid for. A vehicle with hyper car power that a grandmother could drive. Now that we are over a decade in to W221 S65 and they’ve reached Honda Accord levels of purchase price, is it worth rolling the dice on one? Maybe if you are a little crazy. Although this 2007 in Utah might just be the one to get.
I love flagship Mercedes-Benz and all their uniqueness that they bring. From last weeks Adenauer to today’s car, a 2011 S600, I enjoy all of them. (Except the W220 S600 with the 5.8 V12, that thing is garbage.) This W221 up for sale in Texas has everything you’d expect a flagship Mercedes to have with its radar guided cruise control and 510 horsepower that does 0-60 is 4.5 seconds. On top of all the normal goodies, this S600 has the extra special designo interior option. Problem is, I don’t know if I’m in love with it.
