| First Public Appearance | Goodwood, England | Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster |

The new SLR McLaren Roadster was unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed; the drop-top was amongst the star attractions despite the typically inconsistent British weather.

Mercedes obviously thought the upmarket and high profile festival, which takes place on Lord March's front drive annually, would be a fitting venue for a glamorous offering such as this. And the company was proved right.

The world exclusive of the uber-convertible - full name, Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster - was hotly anticipated and no one could deny the new Merc its spot at the top of most festival goers' must see list.

Despite changeable weather, the SLR Roadster drew large crowds throughout the weekend, particularly when all of its 617bhp and 575lb.ft (from its supercharged 5.5-litre V8) was put to use on the famous hill climb circuit. The roadster took to the hill six times during the three day event.

In case you need reminding, performance is pretty staggering considering it's a convertible: the car's lightweight carbon-fibre body can be propelled to 60mph in 3.8 seconds and flat-out the Roadster will reach 207mph, which is the same figure the coupé achieves.

The roof - which Mercedes claims is made of a newly developed material - had a reasonably vigorous workout at Goodwood, not only because the crowds were interested to see how the mechanism works. The roof opens semi-automatically in less than 10 seconds; it just needs to be unhinged from the windscreen. Mercedes is particularly satisfied with the fact that conversation is still possible at over 125mph with the top down!

Richard Tanner - 28 Jun 2007