Hammering the AMG into MercedesBenz
TIME behind the wheel of the MercedesAMG E63 S that features in Drivesouth today had me thinking about the now legendary AMG Hammer sedan of 1986.
AMG had been around for a couple of decades when the Hammer appeared, firstly as an independent race engine specialist and then, from the early 1970s, as one of several companies offering unofficial aftermarket mechanical and cosmetic enhancements for key Mercedes models.
But the Hammer, which was based on the EClass of its time, the W124 saloon, took things to a new level. Rather than tweak a car’s existing motor, AMG shoehorned the V8 from Mercedes’ larger SClass saloon into an EClass frame.
Before completing the transplant, AMG took the engine to pieces. It was reassembled after a full rebuild, with a new four valves per cylinder highperformance head, and improvements to its internals. For customers with cash to burn, AMG would even bore the engine out from 5.6 to 6.0litres, strengthen the chassis and gearbox to cope with the more powerful motor and add a monster limitedslip differential, the obligatory sports body kit, lowered suspension and highperformance wheels and tyres.
With a 0100kmh sprint time of around five seconds and a top speed similar to that of the latest AMG E63 S, the Hammer would count as a superfast car even in today’s terms. Back in the day, its performance was mindblowing.
The Hammer was a particular favourite in the United States. It also commanded immense respect in the United Kingdom when I was working there in the late 1980s; one of my colleagues on Autocar magazine, road test editor David Vivian, summed it up beautifully as ‘‘rapid enough to face down a Ferrari 288 GTO, yet it could be driven by your granny’’.
Noone seems certain how many Hammer cars were built, but one thing is certain: the influence the Hammer had on AMG’s future.
It showed the world that AMG was a tuner to take more seriously than most. That realisation then paved the way for MercedesBenz to develop a formal relationship with AMG, starting with a cooperative agreement in 1993 for joint vehicle development and distribution via the MercedesBenz dealer network. A majority shareholding followed in 1999 and, since 2005, AMG has been a wholly owned subsidiary of the Daimler AG empire, of which MercedesBenz is the major part.
And so the AMG name has been an integral part of MercedesBenz’s highperformance persona. That extends to Mercedes’ current world championshipleading Formula One team, whose formal name is Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport. It also covers everything from styling kits to fullon enhancements of many road cars, among which this weekend’s test car is one of the best.