1996 Mercedes-Benz C36 AMG

The mid 1990s were a good time if you were in the market for a sports sedan. BMW had just introduced the E36 M3 and with this new model, a four-door sedan was available for the first time. Audi was packing a turbocharged punch with their S6 sedan and the now famous 20 valve inline five cylinder lump. If you wanted something other than German, you could head over to Acura and snag an Integra GS-R sedan, with Honda’s 170 bhp twin cam VTEC four-cylinder. Over at Ford, the sun was setting on the second generation Taurus SHO which would be the last to wear the SHO badge with a 5-speed manual transmission.

In the wake of the larger than life 500E/E500 collaboration with Porsche, Mercedes-Benz sought to fill the performance void. After becoming a wholly owned subsidiary by Mercedes-Benz in the early 1990s, Mercedes unleashed the C36 AMG, based on the newly introduced W202 C class. More subdued than the competition from Munich, the C36 still had the goods to please speed freaks. Available solely with a four-speed automatic transmission, the 3.6 liter inline-6 produced 280 horsepower, enough to push this wolf in sheeps clothing to 60 mph in under six seconds. A few years later, Mercedes would slot an AMG tuned V8 under the W202 bonnet in the form of 4.3 and 5.5 liters. These V8 monsters made folks forget about the C36 rather quickly, which is a shame for what was the first in-house AMG effort by Mercedes.

This C36 for sale in Georgia is a nice, lower mileage example and in basic black, is the kind of car that looks at home on the track or arriving at the symphony.

Year: 1996
Model: C36 AMG
Engine: 3.6 liter inline-6
Transmission: 4-speed automatic
Mileage: 24,392 mi
Price: Reserve auction

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1996 Mercedes-Benz C36 AMG on eBay

It’s time for me to downsize my collection before I lose garage space next year. I will be listing 2 Mercedes, two 442’s, a Jaguar XK8 Coupe, and a Mazda RX7 Convertible. Please watch for my other listings if you are interested. All these cars have something special to offer. I will be happy to assist with any inspection or pick up by carrier. I am 45 minutes South of the Atlanta airport. Payment will be accepted by bank wire transfer, check, or cash. No vehicle will be released before all funds have cleared my bank. I have a perfect eBay rating and want to keep it that way. I ask the same from you. Please don’t bid unless you have funds available to complete the transaction. All vehicles will be advertised locally, and I reserve the right to end any auction early. In fairness to all bidders, I will not disclose reserve price. Good luck!

This car was special ordered in Atlanta and taken by original owner to a second home in North Carolina. It was kept there for six years as an occasional weekend driver, then brought back to Atlanta in 2002. It was re-titled to a family member a year later, then traded in at the original selling Atlanta dealer (MRB) on an E55 in July of 2004. I happened to be driving by the dealership that day, and bought the car as soon as MRB completed their extensive service. I have the receipt from that service showing the Sales Department being charged $1000 for this work. When I took delivery, the car had 17,306 miles. I have the Car Fax report from this time that reflects the ownership, no accidents, and mileage, as well as an odometer statement from the dealership. I have owned the car nine years, and have put seven thousand miles on her. It has been inspected on a yearly basis since then (with mileage noted), a second “A” service performed at 23,574 miles costing over $1000, another oil change 300 miles ago (always used Mobil 1), and the A/C system serviced at that same time. She has been babied, and can be driven anywhere without worries.

While I can’t prove the car had never been in the rain before I bought it, any exposure to weather had to be minimal. There are still traces of the factory undercoating (cosmoline?) used to protect vehicles during the shipping process. I have always kept the car garaged, covered, and on a Battery Plus trickle charger. The original black paint still has a deep shine, the interior is perfect, the engine compartment clean, the trunk is spotless, all rubber and weather striping excellent, and she still wears the original Bridgestone tires on AMG wheels that have no curb rash. The tires still have good tread left, but are somewhat “lumpy” when first driven. This smooth’s out as they heat up. I have considered replacing them, but they help show how this car has been babied all it’s life. There were 338 of these cars built in 1996. The factory produced a C260, which was then sent to AMG. They removed the engine and transmission, greatly enhanced performance of both, added special ground effects, oversized AMG wheels and tires, and several discreet emblems throughout. The car was completely transformed by these changes, and has to be driven to truly appreciate the world class results.

I believe this car was ordered with every option available at the time, including climate control, leather, sunroof, heated and power seats, Bose sound system with 6 disc Alpine changer, console/armrest, ASR, alarm system, headlamp washers, power windows, ski bag pass through, passenger air bag, etc. Everything works perfectly. And yes, it has the first aid kit still in the rear window compartment, for you Mercedes specialists out there.

There are a few minor road rash nicks and such that any car picks up over 24K miles of driving, so I won’t use dealer words like spotless or pristine that I see here on eBay. But I’m sure whoever buys this car will be more than happy with her. I have closely watched for any others to come up for sale in the last nine years. I have seen less than 15, and all have had over 80K miles, some as many as 125K. This tells me they were well put together, and the engines will hold up. I can’t imagine there are more than a couple of other ones like this is in country, probably none. You won’t be disappointed. She needs a new home.

There’s not much else to say about this C class but “wow.” As the former owner of a 1998 C230, there is a serious lust factor about this car for me, even if it isn’t one of the later V8 beasts. These six cylinder engines are known for being hearty, not to mention smooth runners. For those that want a healthy dose of luxury with a sporting edge, it’s hard to beat these machines. We featured a black 1995 C36 for sale back in May. That car was on offer for $15,600 and had 32,000 miles on the clock. It failed to meet its reserve with a final bid of $11,211. I’d suspect the top end for like-new C36s right now is probably around $10,000 to $13,000, with a car like this reaching the upper end of that range. Whatever the case may be, I doubt we’ll see another C36 with less mileage for quite some time.

-Paul