A BRIEF HISTORY OF WHAT’S IN A NAME — THE AMG VERSION

It’s probably best that we provide a small refresher to bring you up to speed on how these model names have progressed. AMG has been sprinkling its brand of magic on the E-class since the second-generation W210 (the bug-eyed E-class). Before that, it was Porsche, in its very own Rössle-bau plant in Zuffenhausen, that tinkered with the W124 to create the 500E. An anomaly at the time — being a luxury sedan with subtle looks and excellent performance — the 500E used the 5.0 V8 engine more commonly used in the SL500 and produced 240kw and 480Nm of torque to carry on to a top speed (unlimited) of 260kph. Next time around, it was AMG’S turn. So, in 1996, the first car out of the gate for this new partnership for the big sedan was the E36 AMG. Essentially, this was a standard E320 taken to AMG (which was then a third party to Mercedes-benz) with the cylinders bored out to make a 3.6-litre engine from the standard 3.2-litre, on top of some new exhausts, suspension, and wheels thrown in for good measure. This didn’t wow the punters as much as hoped, and a V8 version quickly followed. This was called the ‘E55’ (still the bug-eyed shape) and increased power to 255kw from a 5.5-litre V8 engine. The first E55 was in an arms race with the newly released E39 M5 and the Jaguar XJR (good for 298kw and 280kw, respectively). It was a race that the Mercedes didn’t do all that well in. So, for the next time around, the W213, Mercedes upped the ante significantly by dropping a 5.4-litre V8 into the E55 (100cc difference in the name badge, but we’ll allow it) and bolted a supercharger on the side. The result was a brutally quick performance sedan putting out 275kw and 700Nm. Mercedes-amg had not just won an arms race; it’d seemingly finished the war. The next time things required a change, AMG was a wholly owned subsidiary of Mercedes-benz, so they wanted to bring names and models into line. The W211 was refreshed in 2006, and the E55 was renamed the ‘E63’. The 5.4-litre supercharged V8 was replaced with a 6.2-litre naturally aspirated V8. Power increased to 378kw but torque was down to 631Nm. The result was a throaty (read: angry) V8 growl without the supercharger whine. In this writer’s humble opinion, a step in the wrong direction. The name was changed as well. ‘E62’, perhaps? Don’t be silly. The E63 was born with its all-new 6.2-litre engine. The name was borrowed from the true ‘63’, which came from the short-lived 6.3-litre M137 engine produced for one month only in 2001 and used in the now highly desirable 2001 S63 AMG, 2001 CL63 AMG, and 2002 G63 AMG models. So, the throaty 6.2-litre V8 was utilized across a number of the range, most ridiculously in the C-class shell, which weighed about as much as a paper clip and was as long as a caterpillar. The ‘63’ badge was popular. With the likes of the BMW M3 and M5 and Audi RS4 and RS6 creating cult-like gangs of fanboys and sycophants, Mercedes-amg needed its own version. So the ‘63’ name badge was to stay. Following on from the 6.2-litre, Mercedes released the W212 version of the E63 and went back to the original displacement of the meeting of AMG and Mercedes, with the E63 now being powered by … a 5.5-litre V8 engine. This time it was with a twin-turbocharged set-up capable of 430kw. (Are you taking notes? There might be questions later.) And now, here we are, the latest version of the E63. This one has an S on the end, and is powered by a twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8. So, there we have it. A completely nonsensical approach to naming cars that seems just fine to us. Just as long as Mercedes-amg continues to put its time and effort into producing jaw-dropping cars, it could name the things after its favourite ice-cream flavour, for all we care.