The AMG 300 SEL 6.8 aka 'Red Pig' put AMG's name on the map.
AFFALTERBACH (Germany): Hans-Werner Aufrecht had always dreamed of building racing engines, so when his employer Mercedes-Benz decided to quit competitive racing, the bottom fell out of the engineer's life.
That was in 1964, and just three years later, Aufrecht founded the legendary tuning company AMG in Affalterbach, Germany. Fifty years later, the now wholly owned performance arm of the three-pointed star has taken on a life of its own.
From tuned saloons to supercars, AMG stands for the most muscle-bound of fast German cars. Ridiculously powerful, with power domes on the bonnet and often flared wheel-arches, AMG-version saloons, roadsters and SUVs have hand-built engines that emanate a menacing rumble.
Back to 1967, when Aufrecht decided to head out on his own and founded an engineering office in the little town of Burgstall together with associate Erhard Melcher.
The business carried the name AMG, which stood for Aufrecht, Melcher and Aufrecht's home town of Grossaspach. Since then, the initials have become a synonym for speed.
In 1971, AMG came up with the barge-like AMG 300 SEL 6.8, a beefed-up saloon with a huge engine which became a race-winning machine. Nicknamed the "red pig," this crimson behemoth won a class victory in the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps in 1971. It also put AMG's name on the map.
What made this car special was the huge V8 engine with up to six litres of capacity and a new cylinder head designed by the engineers. From 1986, this power unit also found its way into the luxury S-Class limousine and later the smaller E-Class saloon.
The massive engine had to be squeezed into the space occupied by the much less powerful original motor. Thirty years ago, this car offered tarmac-shattering performance, with a top speed of up to 340 kilometres per hour. This blew even Lamborghinis and Ferraris into the weeds.
The success of the 300 SEL 6.8 had a downside for the tuners since it prompted Mercedes-Benz to unveil its own go-faster machine, the 500 E from 1992. The vehicle cost 335,000 German marks at the time, or 20 times as much as a humble VW Golf.
Several hundred AMG 300 SELs were sold, although the model is now more or less unobtainable - that is, unless a buyer has millions to spend.
What is sad for fans is good for the brand, says Tobias Moers, who inked a cooperation deal with Mercedes-Benz in 1990 before the brand was taken over completely in 1999. Today, he is chairman of AMG.
Mercedes-Benz now offers more than 20 AMG versions of its range, from the compact A-Class through to the top-line S-Class - including exclusive models with six, eight or 12-cylinder power plants.
Down the years, AMG has moved away from gilding Mercedes-Benz products towards making its own cars from the ground up and in cooperation with other manufacturers.
AMG motors are painstakingly assembled in line with the principle of "one man, one engine" while a recent tie-up with McLaren spawned the SLR and the gull-winged SLS, and will continue with the current GT.
Next year should see the advent of the GT4, a four-seat grand tourer which will try to lure customers away from the Porsche Panamera and top-notch models from BMW.
To mark its 50th birthday, AMG is presenting another coup at the Frankfurt Car Show in September. Moers calls the new model a hypercar and on paper it looks to be worthy competition for the world's ultimate street-legal cars from Bugatti and Ferrari.
The new AMG petrol-electric hybrid will be capable of speeds in excess of 350kph using a power-plant which churns out more than 1,000 horsepower, says Moers. Prices will start at 2.8 million euros (RM14mil).
The new Formula One-inspired car is codenamed "Project One" and according to motoring pundits it will feature a high-revving V6 engine of the type used in the Mercedes-Benz Formula One cars. Project One also has an electric motor at each wheel.
The ingenious next big thing from AMG is bound to cause a stir in Frankfurt - and, as usual with such exclusive machinery, it will be hard for even well-heeled customers to lay their hands on one of the 275 examples scheduled to go on sale in 2019.
