Back in the day, AMG and Mercedes were two separate entities. Founded in 1967 under the name AMG Motorenbau und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, the German tuning firm was named after its two founders, Hans-Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher. The G stood for Aufrecht’s birthplace – Grossapach. Based between Burgstall and Affalterbach, the tuner (unofficially) specialized in proliferating Mercedes benz road cars. In 1986, they made a car that would possibly define the AMG-Mercedes collabo to this day.
Today, we know AMG as the company that builds vulgar and unrepentant go-faster versions of Mercedes Benzes, capable of moving Earth with their monster engines. Before AMGs were the sledgehammers that we know them famous for now, they had a car called the Hammer.
The year was 1986, and the Hammer was a W124 chassis Mercedes Benz 300E that came stock with a 177bhp 3.0L six. The hooligans at AMG would then give owners two options (if they were willing): They could shoehorn the 560SEC’s 5.5L V8 engine into the cramped engine bay, add 32-valve cylinder heads (factory units came with three valves per cylinder) AND dual overhead cams – good for 360bhp – or they could bore out the 5.5L V8 to a full-on 6.0L, which was rated at a stonking 375bhp.
It was only available in black, and had AMG penta 5-spoke blacked out wheels. Add to that a mean bodykit with a blacked-out grille, chin spoilers, side skirts and a ducktail boot spoiler, and the Hammer would make any road a highway to hell. During the time, the equivalent M5 of the era, the E28, only put out 278bhp, a full 100bhp short. In 1986 it was Ferrari GTO performance in a shell that would suit Tony Soprano’s company image, and in its class, it blew everything away.
The car could also be bought with an AMG suspension, a different and more sophisticated rear differential, a Gleason-Torsen LSD, a stronger rear sub frame to cope with the added power and a host of other chassis mods to keep the car planted to the ground. Alas, the price of this glory was not cheap, as full options would bring the bill up to a cool US$161k. In 1986!
The Hammer – unabashed, unapologetic and completely vulgar. We know that AMG makes brutish cars, but before they were brutes,
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they were brutes.
- Brendan
