Mercedes may be going through a bit of a dry spell at the moment, but no team has matched its tally of championships and wins this side of the millennium. Eight constructors’ championships, seven drivers’ titles (depending on who you ask) and countless F1 wins have all come in the last decade, all achieved with the help from the deep-pocketed oil giant Petronas. The Malaysian firm celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and Mercedes has released a limited-run AMG GT 63 Pro to mark the occasion.
Granted, an oil-themed special edition doesn’t sound all that exciting on paper but, clearly, it works mighty well in reality. The ‘Motorsport Collectors Edition’ is everything a Mercedes F1 could want in a limited-run GT 63 Pro: the obsidian black metallic base colour taken from the current F1 car, the hand-painted silver stars at the back and, of course, the flashes of Petronas green on the skirts, diffuser, front brake ducts and around the side windows. Topping it off are a set of 21-inch forged wheels, the same you’ll find on the standard GT 63 Pro 4Matic+ only now painted in matte black with a green outer lip. It’s a colour scheme that’s always delivered menacing-looking F1 cars, and seems just as effective on the AMG GT.
The bright-green Petronas touches are a little more understated on the inside, extending to the ambient lighting, the illuminated AMG-branded door sills and the stitching around the centre console, door inserts and on the AMG Performance seats that come standard fit. Naturally, it’s loaded with options. On the inside that means carbon fibre trim and a Burmester sound system with 15 speakers, while the outside gains swanky carbon on the splitter, skirts, diffuser and rear wing. The company has also chucked in carbon ceramic brakes with, again, Petronas green callipers, while the wheels come wrapped in a set of Michelin Cup 2R tyres.
Elsewhere, it’s equivalent to the standard GT 63 Pro. That means the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 with 612hp being funnelled to both axles through a nine-speed auto, which is good for a 0-62mph time in 3.7 seconds. Mercedes hopes the Motorsport Collectors Edition will appeal to ‘car enthusiasts and collectors who are looking for a particularly sporty driving experience and are Formula 1 fans’, a brief it appears to have nailed judging by what we see here. Only 200 will be made, though there’s no word on how many we’ll get. Or how much it’ll cost, but it’ll obviously be a chunk more than the standard car’s £164,905 asking price. Meanwhile, this AMG GTR is considerably more green for (at least) a £50k discount. Decisions…
1 / 10