The wildest Mercedes AMGs: 50 years of madcap performance cars

Mercedes AMG is celebrating 50 years of go-faster madness in 2017. From its birth in 1967 as an independent tuner to its takeover by Mercedes-Benz in 1999, it’s been famed for one thing: making classy, sledgehammer performance cars. Here we look at some of the highlights - from the over-engined 6.0-litre ‘Hammer’ saloon (front left) to the crazily fast SL 73 AMG roadster (back right). Click through our gallery to see the highlights of AMG’s first half century. The current state-of-the-art is the Mercedes-AMG GT R. Pictured here in Magno Green, it’s a £143,000 missile on wheels, powered by a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 that’s good for 577bhp and 0-62mph in a blink-and-you’ll-crash 3.6sec. It’s as good as a GT3, trust us. Before AMG was consumed by the Daimler empire, it specialised in tuning Benzes as an outside agency. The ‘Hammer’ was one of the best known, taking a staid 300 E saloon and stuffing a whopping great 6.0-litre V8 under the bonnet. To this day, it set the template for what a discrete, Q-car Mercedes could look like. AMG quickly came on Mercedes-Benz’s radar and soon the three-pointed star came knocking. Unveiled in 1993, the C36 AMG was the first car to be developed jointly by Daimler and AMG after they signed a formal cooperation deal. Note the lack of adornment. The stealthy performance on offer. Buyers loved it. In 1999, Merc took a controlling stake, finally buying AMG outright in 2005. Over the years AMG has branched out from its stock-in-trade go-faster saloons. They still specialise in Q-car discretion mixed with brutal performance - but they do outré, in-yer-face pomp nowadays too. Nowhere is this DNA demonstrated better than the Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6x6. Yes, AMG will even make a go-faster G-wagen off-roader, with extra muscle and extra wheels too. Traction is never an issue. Perfect if you need to cross a desert in a rush… AMG has had racing in its blood ever since its creation in 1967; at first it specialised in racing engines - AMG stood for the initials of founder Hans Werner Aufrecht, Erhard Melcher and Großaspach (Aufrecht's birth town). So it’s no surprise it still creates racers such as this brutally styled Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM, with its outrageous rear spoiler. One of our favourite recent AMGs is the SLS AMG Coupe Black Series, confusingly pictured here in Solarbeam yellow. The Black Series moniker distinguishes the most fearsome AMGs of all - the ones for brave (or too rich) pilots for whom the standard OTT tune is not quite enough… AMGs have historically been rear-wheel drive, providing fans of oversteer plenty of slip-slidey angle of dangle. But with the advent of SUVs wearing the AMG badge, it now does all-wheel drive too. And that’s spreading to the saloon range - the new E63 has a clever AWD system, with a special ‘drift’ mode that’ll let you do this. Enthusiasts rejoice! There have been some curios along the way in AMG’s first 50 years: the slow-selling R-class people carrier was packed off to the skunkworks to create the fastest MPV this side of Renault’s madcap F1-engined Espace. The R63 AMG sported the company’s trademark 503bhp 6.2-litre V8 and was capable of shuttling your family past the 62mph barrier in a pooch-scaring 5.1sec. A proper rare-groove find on the used market today… More AMG madness ahoy! In 2018, the company will launch this - the Mercedes-AMG GT Concept. It’s a blueprint for what will become the company’s first standalone four-door, complete with hybrid power and eye-socket-wilting performance. Yes, AMG’s embracing the electrifying future with gusto. Here’s to the next 50 years!