AMG's greatest hits (and one near miss)
From Red Pig to GT R via a Black Series or two - PH celebrates AMG's half century in style
So it was when AMG started up 50 years ago, it was when it first went racing in a 6.8-litre version of the 300SEL 6.3 in 1971 and so it is to this day with cars like the 612hpE63 S and Nordschleife-slaying R version of its GT supercar.
Here we have a drive of some AMG classics from the archives and current range, assembled at Silverstone for a celebratory track day for this 50th anniversary year. From hot-rodded saloons to ground-up supercars it's been quite a journey, not least since the relationship with Mercedes became more formalised ahead of full acquisition in 2005. For all that (and the branded adornments you can now add to your diesel C-Class) AMG remains a fiercely independent spirit, not least in engineering terms. Tracking its development and growing sophistication from behind the wheel of some its greatest cars seems more appropriate than a picture gallery.
OK, this isn't the original 300SEL 6.3 AMG converted into a 6.8-litre monster for a class win and second overall in the 1971 Spa 24-hour. That car was lost after sale to Matra as high-speed test rig for aircraft landing gear, this one being a replica. Who cares. This is THE blueprint for AMG's road and race product. PH has driven it before, albeit slowly. For this run round Silverstone the chaperone's single, gestured instruction is to get on it.
For all the V8 thunder from the outside it's disappointingly thrummy from within but that doesn't detract from the thrill. In 70s touring car style this is a car for manhandling, the engine pulling steadily rather than explosively. The original 6.8 was putting out a claimed 428hp, the 6.3 road car on which this replica is based a more modest 250hp. However much it's got it doesn't seem to threaten the hold of those massive steamroller tyres at the pace we're going, this more about relishing the long haul to the upper reaches of the rev range, the deliberate (and easily blipped) progress back down through the 'box for the corners and the commendably friendly balance through them. Quite the opening gambit...
The temptations of the 190E 3.2 'Baby Hammer' are obvious. But at Silverstone the CLK DTM presents a stronger one. One of just 100 built, it uses a version of the supercharged M113 5.5-litre V8 at the heart of AMG's early noughties ascendancy. From SL55 onwards this symbolised AMG's new-found confidence, eventually delivering 650hp in evolved M155 form in the SLR McLaren. In the CLK DTM it's got 582hp. Plenty - even with those box arches and fixed wing this is a 200mph car.
Thankfully it lives up to the looks too. The squared-off, Alcantara trimmed 'wheel' is fast-racked and much more responsive than any regular Mercedes of the time, the turn-in precise and accurate while the widebody stance feels absolutely planted. The springs are relatively soft but the DTM is beautifully damped, that V8 muscular and powerful throughout the rev range. It might be over a decade older than the similarly pitched BMW M4 GTS. But it feels like it could keep a car of that nature honest still, only the relatively sluggish downshifts showing the DTM's age.
From CLK DTM to CLK63 Black Series represents another significant step, given it's based around AMG's first in-house developed engine. That was the fabulous M156 6.2-litre of the '63 era cars, development for which was carried out in orange-painted CLK DTM test mules. In the Black it develops 507hp. And lots of lovely noise.
And the engine. Oh, the engine! Appropriately the M156 inherited the racy, revvy character of the four-valve heads AMG developed for the iconic widebody 560SEC and W124-based Hammer. The current 4.0-litre turbo V8 is an impressive powerplant by any stretch but this engine, in this car, is arguably the embodiment of AMG. For a big motor the throttle response is fabulously sharp, the powerband broad and more exciting the more revs you get on the dial. Entertaining on track thanks to that engine and a rampant desire for easily controlled oversteer, the CLK Black makes no pretence at being a wannabe racer. It's a muscle car, basically. Just one of some sophistication and style.
Bit of an oddity the SL65. While the new '63 engine and early Black Series cars hinted at track-ready handling the V12-powered SL Black was more of an 80s style shock and awe machine, complete with a widebody kit, fixed carbon hardtop and shameless emphasis on big numbers. Really big numbers.
What's it like to drive? For all the wild looks less transformational than the other Black Series and more like a really, really fast SL. After the razor-sharp throttle response of the CLK Black the turbo lag comes as a shock, albeit not quite as severe as the one that comes when V12 erupts on-boost with a distinctive and sophisticated V12 howl. There's a lot of weight up front though, this and the inevitability of arriving at corners somewhat faster than you expected leading to a fair amount of turn-in understeer. The rules say the ESP stays on but, frankly, given the boosty power delivery you'd have to be properly on your game to be dialling that out on the throttle and the SL Black is better as a point and squirt machine.
The difference between the SL Black Series and the SLS equivalent is properly night and day. While still not a dedicated track car - there was the customer GT3 version for that - AMG put an awful lot of effort into making the SLS Black handle like one.
The detail in the SLS is incredible. Wider track you'll spot but the transaxle gearbox is mounted 10mm lower for improved weight distribution and, like the engine, gets a dedicated damper strut to prevent driveline shunt. It's a lot more than a Mansory-style bodykit on an SLS, put it that way. It's also an incredible thing to drive. It takes up a lot of track but the centred weight gives it poise and balance, the steering beautifully weighted and ability to balance it on the throttle encouraging earlier and earlier application. At last there's a decently responsive gearbox too, the seven-speed dual-clutch rattling up and down its ratios with sequential-like response. Worth the half million they're now fetching? For the engine alone, almost!
One key technical feature introduced on the SLS Black Series was a fully active variable locking differential, this in place of the mechanical LSD used on previous AMGs and permitting a much wider range of operation. And a more sophisticated character, S versions of all the current C63, E63 and GT models all putting traction and corner exit poise above the more traditional oversteer antics of older AMGs.
It works too. The R is both less intimidating than the SLS Black while also massively more composed and potent on track, the torquier power delivery giving it more immediate punch while the four-wheel steering contrives an initially unsettling pointiness. Though it never feels entirely natural you adapt to it, the GT R delivering cornering speeds the like nothing else to wear an AMG badge. Underscoring it all though is one constant - the bellow of a ruddy great V8.
That, were we in any doubt, is what AMG stands for.
You are forgetting that AMG didn't just do Mercedes!
What about the Mitsubishi Debonair V 3000 Royal AMG the company created in 1987???
Or the AMG version of the Lancer?
Also had a C55 which was superb in pretty much every way.
Slightly wish the C63 didn't have a somewhat dubious image, although a de-badged estate would still cut it, IMHO.
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If a SLS Black is half a million the CLK has to be a bit of a bargain at a fifth of that.
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