It was forty years ago that the Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper taught his Lonely Hearts Club band how to play. That same year the creation of two German enthusiasts rocked Mercedes-Benz when they launched AMG as an independent racing and tuning firm that taught its cars how to play on the track and on the street.
The Beatles disbanded long ago but AMG has grown to become an integral part of Mercedes-Benz. It’s guaranteed to raise a smile among automotive performance enthusiasts with two new offerings created to mark the 40th Anniversary of AMG – the CL 65 AMG and the CLK 63 AMG Black Series.
AMG’s long and winding road has transformed it into a quasi-autonomous principality within the Mercedes empire that handles all facets of its operation from development and testing to marketing of the eleven models currently in its portfolio.
Today, this self-contained group of thrill artists plies it trade within the larger company as its 750 employees turn out an extensive range of high-performance cars for an ever growing number of customers many of whom are in the United States.
Of the 20,000 or so wickedly fast cars sold by AMG each year, almost half are sold in the US and 40 to 45% of those cars end up in Southern California. Which explains why the company chose Los Angeles for its media introduction of two special 40th Anniversary Editions.
One, the top-of-the-line CL 65 AMG, comes with a powerful 6.0 liter, V12 biturbo engine delivering 450 kW/612 horsepower and 1000 Newton meters of torque. It’s designed to hit 200 km/h in just 13 seconds while assuring you that the twin sliding calipers found on its braking system and the sport suspension can quickly bring the car to a manageable stop.
There will be only 40 of the 40th Anniversary edition of the CL 65 AMG’s that come wrapped in a unique Alubeam finish that gives the cars a “liquid metal” appearance.
The CL 65’s companion, the new super fast, V8 powered CLK 63 AMG Black Series, is clearly inspired by racing. It derives its looks and technology from the Mercedes F1 safety car that is currently running at Formula 1 World Championship races.
Billed as “lightning fast” the CLK 63’s 6.3 liter V8 uses it horsepower boost (373 to 507) to rocket from 0 to 60 mph in 4.1 seconds. This power is mated to an AMG power transmission, modified suspension and beefy brakes. All designed for optimum handling at speeds designed to make the hearts of automobile enthusiasts beat faster. Suitability for the racetrack is one of the attributes that excites buyers of these vehicles.
While they demand superior performance these picky purists also seek an individual and exclusive appearance, appointments and choice of materials. If the carbon-fiber trim, special instrument clusters, performance steering wheels, racing bucket seats, flared wings, large air intakes, exotic cooling systems and other racing inspired touches found on all AMGs aren’t enough, the in-house Performance Studio is there to make specific technical modifications to its production vehicles.
There are specially configured sports suspensions, high-performance braking systems, wheel/tire combinations, locking differentials or individual interior appointments. If that’s just too pedestrian, they’ll build completely tailor-made single copies. AMG also offers individual Performance Packages for customers with particularly sporty inclinations. These include a combination of different technical components, and are precisely configured for the individual models.
These are cars that appeal to genuine enthusiasts similar to the two founders who launched this enterprise in July 1967. Or course, Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher didn’t know that the engineering company they established for the development of racing engines in an old mill-house would someday become the manufacturer or performance vehicles. They first set their sites on racing engines. But the company needed a name so they came up with “AMG” which was derived like this: "A" for Aufrecht, "M" for Melcher – and finally "G" for Aufrecht’s birthplace of Großaspach.
AMG first success came from building racing cars based on the Mercedes-Benz 300 SE sedan and competing in European touring car races.
The first racing notoriety came in 1971,when a Mercedes 300 SEL 6.3, modified by AMG with a 6.9-liter engine, won a class victory in the 24-hour race at Spa in Belgium, finishing second overall. The 1971 victory was the springboard for a record of racing wins that continues to this day.
Racing raise awareness and word about AMG’s success spread beyond motorsport circles. In the 1970s, the company was asked to offer high-performance tuning and individualization for Mercedes customers in Europe and other markets. The transfer of technology from motorsports into production cars began to grow as a large part of their activities.
Its impressive technology and high quality combined with the involvement in racing helped to make AMG the premiere Mercedes-Benz “tuner” in the world. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the company developed a number of special high-performance models based on production Mercedes sedans and coupes. These vehicles incorporated modified, high-power Mercedes engines and race-proven modifications to the chassis and brakes, AMG light-alloy wheels and wider tires, resulting in fully developed, well-rounded high performance packages.
Strong demand for performance Mercedes-Benz vehicles in the late 1970s led to a steady increase in the number of orders received by AMG and it’s been growing ever since.
Mercedes-Benz couldn’t help noticing how this performance outfit’s popularity continued to blossom and by 1998 DaimlerChrysler had acquired a majority interest in AMG.
This has proven to be a productive arrangement for all concerned. Still in Affalterbach, they’ve outgrown the old mill and now house the production, development and showroom buildings in a 426,000 square feet complex.
The first 40 years of AMG have been quite a ride and I don’t think anyone at the company is asking, “Will you still need me . . . when I’m sixty-four.”
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