Mercedes C63 AMG (2007) CAR review

So this is Merc’s answer to the new BMW M3...

Got it. Hot C's have long been part of Mercedes' line-up, but none has had us quite as excited as this, the C63 which as the name suggests, gets the big 6.3-litre V8 from the car right at the top of Merc's range, the CL63. It’s worth pointing out that while Audi and BMW have only just got around to slotting V8s under their cars’ bonnets, Merc has been at it for years starting with the C43 back in 1997. The C63 doesn’t go on sale in the UK until mid-2008, but when it gets here it will only have the M3 to beat as its other obvious rival, the Audi RS4, is about to die and won’t be replaced until 2009.

How will I spot it?

Try the flared wheelarches, new front and rear bumpers, quad exhausts, twin bonnet powerdomes, rear diffuser or wing vents. And if you get close enough, peek through the window at the unusual sports seats that look like they came out of an ’80s 911, the leather-wrapped wheel, rubber-studded aluminium pedals and SLR-style silver instruments that look great but aren’t that easy to read. Any way you look at it, this isn’t your usual sobre-suited Merc.