AMG, the performance arm of Mercedes-Benz, has been pumping out completely mad versions of the standard MB road cars since 1967, making them 44 years young. Named for the two co-founders and one of their birthplaces, AMG was started by Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher, the G came from Aufrecht’s birthplace in Großaspach, a village in Aspach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Okay, so I’m a history buff, so this lesson could go on for hundreds of words, but I’ll keep it simple.
Mercedes-Benz has released an entertaining video showing a short chronicle of what we love most about AMG: Motor sports and amazing sounding road cars. There’s nothing like the sound of a fired up AMG engine, whether it’s the older supercharged motors from the SL55, or the newer naturally-aspirated 6.2-liter V8s from the C63, all the way to the latest, greatest AMG engine, the M157 5.5-liter bi-turbo V8 found in the current S63 and E63 AMG cars.
Since 1967, AMG has been producing beautiful and upgraded/tuned Mercedes-Benz cars. 1971 saw their first racing successes with the car pictured above, the 300 SEL 6.8. Mercedes and AMG entered into a storied racing history starting in 1988, mainly with their DTM programs. In 1993 came the first, officially named Mercedes-Benz AMG car, the C36 AMG -one of my personal favorites. It was the first car both companies had worked on together. In 1996 came the M5 competitor, the E50 AMG, soon to evolve into the E55. In 1999, Mercedes-Benz purchased AMG and made them a full partner to build their own versions of every MB model. In 2010 (premiering in 2009) came the first, official AMG-only car, the SLS AMG. And the rest is evolving into an even more kick ass history.
I will admit, however, the ’70s and ’80s eras are missing from this video, namely the 300E Mercedes-Benz that had a 369 hp V8 shoehorned into it in 1986. It’s name was the AMG Hammer…
Anyway, the video is still great. So pick up a bottle of your finest German beer and salute AMG and Mercedes-Benz in this 5:46 long video toasting their success and greatness.
[Source: Mercedes-Benz]
