The Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG Black Series – the exclusive high-performance coupé for the discerning motorist
These days, throw a coin into a crowd and it’ll land on someone who has heard about AMG – the most powerful 3-letter abbreviation in the automotive industry but aside from their brute performance and sinister appearances, how much do you really know about those three alphabets? Especially if you own an AMG?
Here are some interesting points Mercedes-AMG has shared:
Erhard Melcher
Hans-Werner Aufrecht
AMG stands for…..
Aufrecht, Melcher, Großaspach, the last names of its founding fathers Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher, along with Aufrecht’s birthplace of Großaspach. The story started in the 1960s when the two engineers, Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher, were working on the Mercedes-Benz 300 SE’s racing engine in the Development Department at Daimler-Benz despite the company discontinued all motorsports activities.
In 1965, Manfred Schiek, a colleague at Daimler, went to the start in the German Touring Car Championship with the 300 SE engine that Aufrecht and Melcher had built, and won ten times. The triumph propelled Aufrecht and Melcher’s reputation for extracting performance from Mercedes-Benz vehicles.
W109 Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.8 AMG 1971
The “first AMG“
The first vehicle associated with AMG was a four-door sedan; the Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3-litre which was also known as the “Red Pig”. After Aufrecht and Melcher modified the car, including weight reduction and increasing the engine’s displacement to 6.8-liters, the finished vehicle produced 428 hp and 608 Nm, a significant increase from the original 247 hp and 500 Nm. At its racing debut in the 1971 24 Hours of Spa, it won its race category and secured a 2nd place overall finish, despite being the heavisest car on the grid.
The first AMG co-developed with Mercedes-Benz
The first jointly developed high-performance vehicle from AMG and Mercedes-Benz was the C 36 AMG. It was also the first AMG product to be officially sold outside of Germany, in the United States in 1995. By 1998, Daimler acquired a majority stake of AMG, setting the stage for a variety of high-performance Mercedes-Benz AMG vehicles.
AMG Black Series
The AMG Black Series is perhaps the most intimidating, sinister and not to mention exclusive models in the AMG range. So far, only six special models have worn the AMG Black Series badge – the CLK 63 Black Series, the C 63 Black Series, the SL 65 Black Series, the SLS Black Series, the SLK 55 Black Series, and the AMG GT Black Series.
The first-ever car built by Mercedes-AMG
The SLS AMG was the first-ever car designed and developed from the ground up by Mercedes-AMG, followed by the AMG GT in 2015, and most recently the AMG GT 4-Door in 2019. The SLS AMG featured “gullwing” doors, inspired by the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL “gullwing” built between 1954 and 1957.
The gullwing doors featured an unusual safety feature – two explosive capsules – capable of blowing the doors off for quick exit, in the unlikely event that the vehicle is flipped and is resting on its roof.
Collaborations
Mercedes-AMG has partnered with Cigarette Racing Team to produce 12 special edition, high-performance boats with the most recent being a 59-foot Tirranna AMG Edition 59-foot boat. The boat was also revealed with a G 63 Cigarrette Edition. Recently, an AMG GT Black Cigarette Edition was revealed as well.
One Man, One Engine
All handcrafted are built according to the “One Man, One Engine” philosophy, in which one master craftsman assembles each AMG engine from start to finish. Each engine honours its builder via a special plaque, signed by the individual that assembled it and placed on the cover of the engine upon completion.
Mercedes-AMG in Affalterbach.
Current headquarters
Presently, the Mercedes-AMG headquarters is located in Affalterbach, Germany, a small town in Stuttgart in the state of Baden-Wüttemberg. Affalterbach is home to the management, administration, sales, development, and design teams of AMG. The hand-built engines are also made there. Mercedes-AMG now employs approximately 1,800 people; a stark contrast from its humble beginnings as a two-man operation at Hans Werner Aufrecht’s house in Großaspach!
AMG Dynamic Select
Using a toggle on the console, or switches on the AMG steering wheel, drivers can select between “Comfort” to “Sport”, “Sport +”, “RACE” and “Individual”. More recently, the new AMG Drive Unit adds a new set of controls on the lower part of the steering wheel to easily change the driving modes without removing your hands from the steering wheel. The buttons on the lower-left steering wheel offer a variety of functions to change the sensitivity of the traction control as well as the sound level of the exhaust system.
Mercedes-AMG One
The hypercar is one of the most powerful AMG vehicles ever produced with more than 1,000 hp and a top speed in excess of 349 km/h. For the first time, the two-seater hypercar brings the latest and most efficient Formula 1 hybrid technology directly from the racetrack to the road.
Keyword: 55 years of AMG: 10 things you may not know about the brand