Fast 50

As Mercedes-AMG celebrates 50 years as the ultimate performance brand in the German carmaker’s line-up, we examine how a name synonymous with racing has also injected serious muscle into some of the world’s greatest road cars.

MENTION THE NAME ‘AMG’ TO ANY petrol-head and immediately it will conjure up images of unabashed luxury, top-level performance and stunning levels of handling all combined into one dazzling package.

With bespoke engines powering the range, along with exclusive body design and racing-class suspension and brakes, every AMG model takes the ownership experience of a Mercedes-Benz to the next level.

A performance legend is born

The beginnings of AMG can be traced to a workshop of an old mill in Burgstall an der Murr near Stuttgart in Germany in 1967 under the control of former Mercedes engineers, Hans Werner Aufrecht  and Erhard Melcher. here, the men worked on specialised engine production and development of Mercedes-Benz powerplants with the name AMG denoting the names Aufrecht, Melcher and the town of Großaspach, which was Aufrecht’s birthplace. here it produced a range of engine upgrades for such Mercedes-Benz classics as the R107, C107 and W116.

The early workshop was primarily used though as a test centre for the development of racing engines and in 1971 the fledgling company really showed a glimpse of greatness to come when, totally unexpectedly to the racing world, the AMG 300 SEL 6.8 claimed victory in its class and came second overall at the 24-hour endurance race at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.