A trio of new high-performance...

A trio of new high-performance models is on the way - with Mercч­edes leading the charge. And here"s the first - the stun-ning Mercedes McLaren SLR Roadster, which made its debut at one of Britч­ain"s most historic motorsport venues at the weekend. The soft-top roared up the famous hill at the glorious Goodwood circuit in West Sussex.

McLaren"s engineers have made a host of changes under the skin, including the extensive use of carbon fibre in the chassis, helping to strengthen it without adding excess weight

The new cabriolet uses the same supercharged 617bhp, 5.4-litre V8 engine as the SLR coupé, and it even looks just like its regular stablemate.

However, McLaren"s engineers have made a host of changes under the skin, including the extensive use of carbon fibre in the chassis, helping to strengthen it without adding excess weight. As a result, the open SLR can hit the same 207mph top speed as the tin-top model, and sprints from 0-60mph in only 3.8 seconds.

Its fully retractable hood is availч­able in three colours, and can be raised or lowered in a mere 10 seconds. However, the semi-automated design does require some manual assistance, because the roof has to be unlocked from the windscreen frame before it can be lowered.

Prices will be confirmed at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, but the roadster is expected to cost even more than the чЈ317,700 coupé. If that"s too much, help is at hand, as two other storming new models are under development, and both should undercut the roofless SLR. Engineers at McLaren are thought to be working on a fresh new supercoupé. Plans are still being finalised, but our spies have seen a test mule for the new car being put through its paces in the UK.

The Ferrari-bodied prototype is being readied to blitz the competition, and looks likely to see a return to the mid-engined format of the legendary McLaren F1 road car. The hot new two-seater is set to go head-to-head with Ferrari"s F430, and is likely to be priced at around чЈ130,000.

But that"s not all supercar fans have got to look forward to. Top brass at Mercedes have watched in admirч­ation in recent months as the Audi R8 has stolen the spotlight. And now, the company is set to go it alone on the development of its own challenч­ger, working independently of McLaren. Instead, the job of preparing the car will be handed to Mercedes" in-house performance division, AMG.

Until now, the brand"s tuning arm has specialised in uprating existing three-pointed star models to boost their pace, but insiders believe it is capable of much more than that.

Mario Spitzner, the director of branding at AMG, explained to Auto Express: "Bosses have not given us the green light yet, but we would love to do it and we know what we would like to do. We would be ready. Our customers always ask us why we don"t develop our own car, so we are sure we would be able to sell it."

Details of the project are a closely guarded secret, but our spies have already spotted a heavily disguised prototype on some of the most popч­ular testing roads in Germany. It"s clear from the test mule that AMG will adopt a front-engined layout for its first-ever stand-alone vehicle. We expect to learn more about the new model at the Frankfurt expo.