| Text
By Ulysses Ang
Photos Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz |
motioncars.com
Magazine
|
|||||
|
AMG. These
three letters spell a legend in the automotive tuning industry.
Winner of several titles such as the DTM (German Touring Car
Championship) and FiA GT Championship, this once independent tuner of
Mercedes-Benz has been the sole-reason for the three-pointed star’s success on
both road and track. Bought by
Mercedes-Benz in order to gain more control over how their passenger cars are
tuned, AMG was feared by many as to loose their unique identity. Bringing in much needed funding; AMG still
continues to deliver under-stated, over-powered cars that have defined their
name ever since the company started. However,
what makes AMG different nowadays is the wider line-up that the company deals
with. Years ago, AMG would usually
concentrate on building one or two tuned models of favorite sedate family sedans
such as the E-class and C-class. Now, it seems that Mercedes-Benz has commanded AMG to produce a tuned model of each of the car company’s model lines, sans the G-Wagen. Of course, one may think that this may very well compromise AMG’s image of producing finely made cars. Well, the answer is both a yes and a no. Yes, in a sense that AMG been ordered to use particular engines for particular cars. The company has no say anymore on what to put inside the bonnet of these cars—and because of this, AMG has to develop their cars using only two-types of engines: the 5.5-liter SOHC 24V V8 and the supercharged 3.2-liter SOHC 18V V6. On the other hand, AMG still takes great care in creating their cars—each of these engines are hand-assembled and placed inside the bonnet of each of the cars they produce. Their factory may not have the same austerity as Aston Martin, but they don’t mass-produce E55s like Honda does the S2000. Having six cars in the AMG line-up, what is a billionaire to do? Of course, buy a copy of each of these fine examples of automotive engineering and drive a different one each day. All of these cars have the ability to go 0-100 km/h at 5 seconds or less, and yet they drive and look much like everyday automobiles—and this is the point of AMG. They never produce cars that will catch too much attention. AMG owners like the power without sacrificing a bit of poise. We are dreaming of course, but if we had a billion dollars in hand, we’d spend our AMG money this way… |
|
