Studiotorino Made an Italian Coupe Out of the Mercedes SL

The Mercedes SL inspired two designers into creating a coupe version of what looks like the CLC you've always dreamed of.

It was built by Alfredo Stola, a designer at Studiotorino, and Piotr Degler Jablonski, a student at IAAD art institute. The good looking concept entered the "Turin World Design Capital 2008" and competes for the "Bespoke Coachwork" category.

The two decided to take a facelifted SL and gave it the looks to compete with Ferraris, Alfas and Lamborghini at beauty contests. It is a pity that Mercdedes will not be making this car, because they already have a coupe version. All they need to do is put the roof up on the standard car and it instantly transforms into a coupe.

They called it Coupetorino and the premiere was held on December 12 at the Turin Gallery next to a photo shoot and a 1:4 scale model. The latter is presented in  monochromatic bronze on a support as if it was an antic sculpture.

The current SL is a convertible with a retractable hardtop, which received a makeover this year in the form of a facelift. This is an important model because it was the first “supercar” ever made, back in 1954. The letters SL meant “sporty and light” but for the latest models the acronyms changed to “sporty and luxurious”.

The last SL to come out of the Mercedes factory doors is the 65AMG Black Series, a 518hp monster that can hit 100km/h from standstill in 4.6 seconds while the top speed had to be restrained to 250 km/h. Couple that to the new AMG-developed 7-speed MCT "Multi Clutch Technology” and you get a serious luxury cruiser.