Mercedes-Benz Madness: Is a Four-Door SLS in the Works?

G. Noble

Editor/Reporter

CheersandGears.com

Thursday, 23rd February, 2012

The SLS AMG, Mercedes-Benz’s latest supercar offering, appears to be spawning quite the high-powered family. For 2012, the gull winged coupe has been joined by a more conventional open air roadster. Next year, the coupe will go on AMG’s Black Series diet and makeover plan. You would then expect a Black Series roadster to follow suit of the Black Series coupe for 2014, but if some recently leaked patent filings are any indication, the German automaker could have something a little more insane hidden up its sleeve instead.

The patent drawings, filed with the German patent office, show what appears to be a four-door SLS. However, instead of four conventional front-hinged doors, the gull wing doors are shown to be left intact and behind them are a set of small, rear-hinged demi-doors much like one would find on vehicles like the recently departed Mazda RX-8, long deceased Saturn Ion coupe, or an extended cab pickup. The wheelbase has also been stretched to accommodate two rear seats that have been split by an extended center console, making for a 2+2 layout. The drawings also show the rear section of the center console feature a secondary set of COMMAND interface controls.

It’s also worth noting that this potential four-door SLS doesn’t appear to have a complete B-pillar, which is interesting given that the packet of paperwork that accompanies the drawings seems to affirm the automaker is concerned with minimizing weight gain and preserving structural rigidity.

When Benz officials were asked to comment on the leak and the drawings, questions were dodged with the old standard response of, “We won’t take the liberty of sharing comments for any potential future products.”

Source: Autoblog