AMG’S ORPHANS

While there are no shortage of candidates for the AMG highlights reel, it’s also worth remembering that some of Affalterbach’s spawn never gained a whole lot of traction.

SL73 AMG

Back in 1999, AMG really went large. The M120 powerplant found in the 7.3-litre SL73 formed the basis of the Pagani Zonda’s engine. Around 85 R129 SL73S were built, with 50 being sent to the Sultan of Brunei to moulder away in his swampy sheds. The price for this 386kw monster? An SL600 plus $ 82,000.

MITSUBISHI ROYAL AMG DEBONAIR

The strangest anomaly of AMG’S brief dalliance with Mitsi is undoubtedly the 1986 Debonair. A front-drive executive bloater, it raided the AMG dress-up box and came away with feebly undersized branded wheels, an AMG steering wheel, a bizarrely incongruous body kit and a job lot of AMG badging plastered all over it.

190E 3.2 AMG

Back in 1991, 172kw was a pretty respectable total for a compact exec car. The Mercedes-benz 190E 3.2 AMG, nicknamed the ‘Baby Hammer’, packed some serious punch but never achieved the status of BMW’S competition-honed E30 M3. Production of the softly sprung auto-only 3.2 only ran to 200 units.

C30 CDI AMG SPORTCOUPE

Another oddball AMG was the C30 CDI AMG Sportcoupe. Launched back in 2002, this was the first AMG diesel with a five-pot 3.2-litre 172kw oiler that would scoot it to 100km/ h in 6.8sec and return 7.6L/100km. Problem was, the asking price was within 2500 of a 256kw V8 Audi S4. Game over.