The Mercedes SLR, which became and iconic image of 1950’s motor sport, is about to make a return to the roads in the guise of a new SLR special edition roadster. Sir Stirling Moss famously drove the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR open top racer to victory in the 1955 Mille Miglia race. The starting time of the race at 7:22am became synonymous with the SLR and was used to name the recent special edition SLR 722.

The new car has been spotted sporting a heavy black and white striped disguise and like the 1955 model, is completely open with just a low front screen. This is said to make the car significantly lighter and as such, means performance figures of up to 217 mph. It is thought that only 75 of the new models will be produced and as the roofless design means they are unlikely to get safety approval for European or US roads, they will either be expensive track toys, or be sold mainly in the Middle East.