Hawk sculptured in bronze

One of the most talked about and desired cars to come out last year, is the winged Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, known in some circles as the Khulubuse Mobile.

Having driven the car not so long ago and being convinced that this car is the stuff of dreams in terms of power, novelty and appeal, I couldn't resist the urge to showcase this version by Hamann Motorsport.

Christened simply as the "Hawk", it makes a drastic departure from the standard car, starting with the chosen body paint.

This bronze-ish colour was selected specifically to distance it from Merc's now docile looking SLS.

And to enhance the shade, a generous amount of carbon material is introduced as a sculpted centre-piece on the bonnet and also features as the lid on the stubby rear boot of this monster.

This lightweight material also forms the basis of a mock roof-mounted air-scoop.

The gigantic rear spoiler isn't fake though and this accessory, along with the tips of the wing mirrors and the front air-splitter, is crafted with this now natural material for any car with sporty inclinations.

The custom car boasts comple tely redesigned front and rear apron kits which Hamann assures us have been aerodynamically tested in a wind tunnel to decrease uplifting forces.

The Hawk also gains a neat, high-quality side-skirt job which widens the Merc, while also creating gaping air-slats for cooling the massive brakes.

Cooling is crucial for getting maximum joy out of hyper cars and the Hawk's front apron is also designed to help channel even more fresh air into the engine compartment, where, sensibly, Hamann has deci- ded to stick with the standard car's 6.2-litre, naturally aspirated V8 engine.

It's a pleasan-tly full-bodied, strong-cammed and accomplished power unit that rarely needs tweaks.

It is only the re-mapping of the values, the replacement of the standard car's exhaust manifolds, catalytic converter and air-filter with robustly sportier equipment that the tuners have gone with, giving the Hawk with 468kW and 680Nm.

The larger manifolds are also said to end off as a squadron of 90mm diameter flame-throwers.

Power counts for nothing if it can't be put down on the road. Here the Hawk gets 21-inch lightweight, forged alloy and retro BBS-style rims shod on 245/30 ZR 21 rubber.

Adjustable dampers hunker the Hawk down by an extra 30mm, giving supreme stability on tarmac for the hottest SLS seen thus far.