The four-door, four-seat mega-Mercedes-AMG is getting closer, after recently being spied testing at - where else? - the Nürburgring. How close? Well, high-speed testing of a car that, beneath the disguise, looks pretty production-spec suggests a reveal could be due at the Frankfurt Motor Show this September, with deliveries beginning in 2018. Pretty close, then. And it looks like there are lots to get excited about.
Note the size of the wheels, for example. The size of the brakes. What appears to be either ready-made air curtain ducts or brake cooling vents in the front bumper. There's lots of stuff hidden beneath the rear camo, from an underfloor venturi to curious slots above the ultra-slim, AMG GT-style tail lamps. The more we look at it, the more we wonder if it isn't a huge deployable rear spoiler beneath there. Or even, dammit, a fixed rear wing, rather like the AMG GT R?
They wouldn't, would they? Well, they might have to, if the mooted firepower of the engine bears fruit. The concept had a petrol-electric drivetrain labelled EQPower+ a name also used on the Merc-AMG F1 racers - and it seems certain the production car will have this, too. Pairing a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 with an electric motor charged by regenerative brake energy a la F1's KERS, possibly even using fast-deploying F1 tech for some more track-to-road kudos - oh, and a potential 800hp output. It'll be able to run as a full EV (future-proofing it for cities that may mandate full EVs) or use V8 and electric motor in combination to deliver a 0-62mph time of around 3 seconds. Needless to say, it'll be 4MATIC.
The rear is interesting in another way. The Porsche Panamera is a hatchback: could the four-door GT actually be a five-door? This is disguise doing a pretty good job of exactly that - it'll be a pretty stubby boot opening if it's not a liftback, although that panoramic glass roof also plunges down rather far into the rear screen - far lower than original artists' impressions suggested - so the hatch itself would be a stubby thing, too. Then again, the GT coupe is a hatch: could AMG really get away with compromising practicality by making a four-door saloon version of a two-door hatch?
Don't worry. That horrible fly-splattered mesh at the front won't be staying. It won't be shaped as the camouflage depicts, either - that's a trick of the tape. Hopefully, it'll be wearing the same mesh grille as the concept (and latest model GT coupes), while the sexy slimline headlights of the concept are also being carried across, as is its plunging nose. Oh, and a plethora of sensors in the grille and windscreen means this'll be a super-saloon with self-driving abilities.
Possibly called GT4, the Mercedes-AMG four-seater range will be topped by the EQPower+ hybrid, but more conventional V8 versions will be available in time. We'd wager a diesel is unlikely given the current mood, though - and AMG boss Tobias Moers' proud distaste for them. Plus, there's no need for one if the hybrid ticks the zero-emissions box: double tick if it does so by harnessing F1-grade tech. Needless to say, prices will be six figures for the range-topping showcase, which Merc-AMG will be keen to position above the upcoming CLS four-door coupe. That's why it's going to be so fast. Hopefully, we'll find out just how fast at Frankfurt this autumn.
[Photos: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien]