I don't have the answers here, but do you think that extra $180k is worth it to Stern in a strictly-dollars-and-cents way given the extra R&D, prototyping, etc. that must have gone into the SLE? Not to mention the costs of running that contest and the time that went into figuring out who should get offered one etc...? Maybe those costs are relatively small, I don't know, but overall the SLE seems more like a big promotional thing as well as a sort of market probe.
The 12k LE, though, that's some cash-grabbing right there...