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Spy Shots: Mercedes-Benz E63AMG WagonA covered up E63 AMG Wagon has been caught doing the rounds on public roads before we see it in showrooms some time next year. It looks like the potential ungainliness of the new E-Class could be gracefully smoothed out by the longer lines of the wagon. Of course, even if it is still ungainly, you'll get 85 extra horsepower over the current model, which should let you get away from gawkers with increased alacrity. That also means the baby on board might need a G-suit. The "Duplo" rear lights are probably mule-only fitments, but they'd be pretty cool if they were wrapped in polished housings.
posted : 10/22/2008 @10:58:49 PM
2009 Mercedes SL63 AMG and SL600

Finding the ideal luxury sports car is a Goldilocks proposition: cars that fulfill either descriptive – luxury or sports – are piled high as Annapurna. For instance, the Ferrari F430 is a luxurious sports car, but it's not a luxury car. The current CL63 is a sporty luxury car, but it's not a sports car. Try to find a conveyance in which the little girl with the golden locks would sigh "This one is just right" – a car that has the sporting reflexes to keep her heart beating and a cabin supple enough for her to unwind in when the twisties are finished – and you see the field is disturbingly minuscule. Against all odds, the SL63 is that car: Goldilocks' Golden Mean.
posted : 10/17/2008 @5:17:15 PM
AMG boss confirms future hybrid and diesel plans

Saying that "only a fool would ignore" the emissions of a new vehicle and the current global economy, AMG head-man Volker Mornhinweg realizes that it can't keep building gas-guzzling supercars with reckless abandon. Not that the company will lose its performance edge, mind you. In fact, hybrids and diesels could offer a meaningful performance boost if tuned properly. How so? Torque. Diesel engines are known for their massive axle-shreading twist, and electric motors, an essential part of any hybrid powertrain, make maximum power right off idle, allowing for an internal combustion engine that's tuned for stratospheric revs. In a recent interview with CAR, the notion of fitting a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter oil-burning V6 inside the C class was kicked around. Mornhinweg suggests such a vehicle is a distinct possibility as AMG moves forward. Hybrid technology could be based on the new drivetrain powering the recently-unveiled S400 BlueHYBRID. No matter what the future holds, we can be sure that the AMG crew is obviously not made up of a bunch of fools, and will therefore continue to offer cars with the highest performance pedigree, regardless of what's underhood.
posted : 10/15/2008 @7:52:33 PM
Airstream unveils toy-toting PanAmerica trailer

Being able to complain that hauling your 34-foot Airstream around means leaving your full-dresser Harley at home for vacation strikes us as an enviable problem to have. For those of you with a surfeit of high-end toys and a longing to hit the road, Airstream has you covered with its new PanAmerica model. Being a high-end product itself, the PanAmerica sports Airstream's trademark aluminum construction and mid-century modern styling that ensures it's perpetually in vogue. The best part of the trailer, however, is that it sports a garage in its aft compartment that can swallow a pair of motorcycles, some ATVs, or our current favorite, a red Radio Flyer wagon. The garage has an 11-foot depth and is comprehensively equipped with tie downs and wheel clamps so your scooter will stay put while you drag everything over mountain passes. The dragging part will require a pretty beefy tow vehicle. You'll want your pickup to have the largest available engine to cope with the 11,500-pound gross weight rating. Once you've docked your rig at camp, it's nothing but traditional Airstream class inside, meaning stainless appliances, indirect lighting, and snazzy cabinetry. It all looks like some kind of 1950's Brasserie, and if we had 85 large to drop on a jet-age home away from home (and a truck brawny enough to pull it), we'd be blogging from various bucolic undisclosed locations on a daily basis.
posted : 10/5/2008 @5:34:05 PM
Spy Shots: Mercedes-Benz GullwingThanks to the box-office success story that was Back To The Future, the De Lorean may be the most recognizable instance of the gull-wing door, but the most historically significant and the first model to truly popularize this unique portal was the Mercedes-Benz 300SL. Since then, the German automaker has continued experimenting with the gull-wing design, with the C111 and C112 concepts from the '60s and '70s. Apparently, the time has finally come for a return of the iconic design feature on a production supercar. We've already seen spy shots of what appears to be an odd mash-up of Dodge Viper parts with McLaren supercar bits tacked together, but the latest mule now appears to have the upwards-opening doors that could give the new model its name. Besides the doors, we can definitely see the long hood and short deck styling that echos the design of the current SLR. Rumor has it that the new supercar will wear the AMG badge and be powered by at least 550 horses from an undetermined powerplant hooked to a seven speed automatic transmission. More as we get it.
posted : 10/3/2008 @6:29:35 PM
Kleemann offering tuning package for the CLK63 AMG Black Series

There's not much we would change about the Mercedes-Benz CLK63 AMG Black Series. Its 6.2-liter V8 produces gobs of power and torque, and the F1-inspired design is a beautiful combination of form and function. Danish tuner Kleemann, however, thinks that it could use some tweaking and has introduced a tuning package that it considers to be a sophisticated optimization. Horsepower has been increased from 507 to 545 via a remapped ECU and an upgraded exhaust system that includes high-flow exhaust manifolds and downpipes with sport catalytic converters. The stock 19-inch AMG wheels have been replaced with 20-inch Kleemann TS-6 3-piece wheels. Finally, the Kleemann logo replaces the standard badges on the trunk. Sophisticated, yes, but whether it's the limited production and possible collectability or the fact that we just like the car as is, we think we'd keep a CLK63 AMG Black Series stock if we had one in the garage and leave any upgrades to the standard CLK63 AMG.
posted : 9/23/2008 @10:28:36 PM
BRABUS C63 AMG adds 73 HP to super sedan

BRABUS, the German tuner of all things Daimler, has laid its hands upon the C63 AMG and somehow teased out an additional 73 horsepower from the sedan's 6.2L V8. With a BRABUS badge on the back, the C63 AMG produces 530 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque, up from 457 and 442, respectively. Called the B63 S performance kit, the engine mods include free-flow high-performance metal catalysts, sport air filters and new programming for the ECU with custom mapping. With everything in place, the BRABUS C63 AMG can hit 62 mph in just 4.1 seconds and ultimately top out at 197 mph. Of course, the rest of the sedan has been beefed up to support the engine with components like a BRABUS performance brake system, 19-inch wheels and a height-adjustable BRABUS coil-over suspension. Finally, the German tuner has a whole catalogue of interior and exterior accessories to set your B63 S apart from stock C63 AMGs.
posted : 9/22/2008 @9:55:39 PM
Monterey 2008: SL65 AMG Black Series in the flesh!

We haven't seen any photos of the Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Black Series except for the press photos and a few wallpapers we scrounged up. As far was we know, no one has actually seen the car in person outside of Mercedes-Benz, let alone photographed it. So imagine our surprise when we spotted one headed our direction while trying to crash the Ferrari-owners-invited-only North American debut of the Ferrari California in Monterey. We instantly forgot about trying to catch a glimpse of the Ferrari and turned our lenses towards the Black Series. Fortunately, Mercedes-Benz had no problem with us taking photographs of the car, and we were able to get plenty of detailed pictures. Enjoy the high resolution gallery below and we'll be back later with more from Monterey!
posted : 8/31/2008 @6:04:30 PM
AM General to produce wheelchair-accessible transit vehicle

While General Motors looks over a stack of offers for its HUMMER brand, the fate of AM General hangs in the balance. The military contractor developed and built the original Humvee until the rights to the HUMMER name were bought by GM, who then contracted AM General to continue building the H1 (until it was discontinued) and then the Chevy Tahoe-based H2. (The Chevy Colorado-based H3, meanwhile, is built entirely by GM at its Shreveport, Louisiana plant.) With the future of its General Motors contracts uncertain, AM General has announced a new deal of another kind.Starting in 2010, the Indiana-based company will begin producing a new series of wheelchair-accessible transit vehicles for the Vehicle Production Group, LLC. Although, as VPG points out, the usual development gestation period for such vehicles is two to three years, VPG and AM General intend to get the ramp-equipped para-transit vehicle to market in less than 24 months. Over 3,500 units have already been ordered, leading VPG to project that annual production will well exceed that number, while AM General intends to use the same workforce it currently employs for the new project. As for what the para-transit vehicle will look like, no one knows, but there was word of AM General developing a new version of the Standard Taxi (see above) with a low ride height and large doors that appears as if it could easily accommodate wheel chairs.
posted : 8/31/2008 @4:57:33 PM
B&O put the Bang in Mercedes AMGTypically when "music" is mentioned in the same sentence as AMG, it's in relation to the deep burble emanating from the exhaust pipes. But with all that Teutonic, sound-deadened cabin comfort, customers of the Mercedes tuning division have come to expect an equally impressive performance from inside the cabin. To that end, AMG has signed a new deal with the Danish audio gurus at Bang & Olufsen to provide their high-end automotive sound systems for these high-powered Mercedes models.The deal is the third such agreement brokered by B&O, whose systems already appear in Audis and Aston Martins, spearheading a market proliferation that surely influenced the decision-makers in Affalterbach. Both AMG and Bang & Olufsen were clearly elated by the deal, and you can feel the sheer unbridled joy in the statement from AMG chairman Volker Mornhinweg: "Mercedes-AMG represents high performance and exclusivity. The same is true of Bang & Olufsen's in-car sound systems. Jointly, we are therefore able to meet Mercedes-AMG customers' expectations to sound systems." Contain yourself, Volk.
posted : 8/31/2008 @4:44:44 PM
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