Honestly, I think my dad just got to the point where a raw sports car just wasn't what he was looking for anymore. He still says the 911 was the most fun car he's ever owned, but at the same time a car more compromising in terms of performance vs. luxury was what he was looking for. In that light, what's better than an SL55? The thing is just brutally fast (it would destroy the Porsche in straight line performance). Then you've got the heated/ventilated seats, the awesome sound system, the hard top convertible...and on and on. I think that's why the family has gone on the AMG tip.
However, while the SLR is indeed a rediculous machine, I'm pushing for him to jump into a Carerra GT. The SLR is brilliant, but really I can't help but think of it as an SL55 on steroids whereas the GT is a race car from concept to execution. Plus you could have a GT by the end of the summer as opposed to waiting until the end of 2006 for an SLR.
Either way, you couldn't pry the keys to my 5 year old M3 from my cold, dead fingers. Well, you might be able to relax 'em if you dangled a set of GT keys infront of me.
SLM3