If you are feeling déjà vu, you are on to something. Last month I checked out a 1998 Mercedes-Benz S600 7.0 AMG and now a month later, we have the brother 1998 CL600 7.0 AMG. It is probably safe to assume these both came out of the same collection, and believe it or not, this one checks in with over 100,000 kilometers on the odometer. Long live the M120!
When it comes to the old rule of Mercedes-Benz wagons are worth significantly more than their sedan counterparts, the AMG models are no exception. It is basically having your cake and eating it too, only this cake is really rare and extremely hard to find given they didn’t make many at all. Today’s car is a currently forbidden fruit as it isn’t 25-years-old yet, but the clock is ticking fast and it will be legal in no time. Say hello 1998 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG Wagon.
“I don’t think it is necessary to explain to those who understand.”
That’s the only description from the selling dealer for today’s car. Granted, that was translated from Japanese, but it is the general gist of it. If you know you know, if you don’t, this isn’t the car for you. The iconic W140 Mercedes-Benz S600 punched out to 7.0 liters by AMG Japan and equipped with a bunch of other little special touches. In terms of 1990s sedans, this is up there. The price? Well, if you have to ask…
One of these more overlooked Mercedes-AMG models since the turn of the millennium was the very short-lived C209 CLK55 AMG coupe. You might be wondering how a car that ran from the 2003 to 2005 model year can be short-lived, but looking at the production numbers you see how rare they really are. In 2003, they sold a reasonable 761 cars here. 2004? Down to 509. The final year of 2005? Only 247. Considering there were roughly 350 Mercedes-Benz dealers in the US at that time, you were lucky to see one. Even though they are rare, there is not exactly much demand for them as they suffer from the curse of the CLK-Class. That is a thing totally made up by me, but let me explain.
Despite the CLK-Class looking like an E-Class coupe and Mercedes wanting you to think that, it rides on the W203 C-Class platform. That means a lot of shared parts, which isn’t a good thing when talking about the W203. Naturally, the drivetrain of the 5.4-liter M113 V8 with the 722.6 five-speed automatic is a gem, but the interior is a real letdown on these cars with the cheap plastic on almost everything you touch. Still, for this amount of money, who is to complain?
Long live the V12! In all seriousness, I’m not breaking any news here saying the V12 engine is not long for this world. The return just isn’t there for companies with the emissions regulations and you can make comparable power with turbochargers, superchargers, and electric batteries. Thankfully we have roughly 30 years of them to choose from and they seem to be aging reasonably well, all things considered. My favorite V12, the Mercedes-Benz M275, can be had across various of platforms and it seems the secret is out about them. Today’s car, a 2014 SL65 AMG, came with a giant sticker price of over $215,000, but that doesn’t mean you are going to be snagging this one for $48,000 some eight years later. Not even close.
Well, this is certainly one way to stick out. What we are looking at today is a Mercedes-AMG C63 S Edition 1 … edition. What exactly does that mean? It is a C63 S AMG coupe with Mango Selenite matte grey paint, some different bodywork, and a whole lot of yellow accents everywhere. If you do not like yellow, this is not your car. Performance improvement over the standard car? Nah. This is just about extra flash. Truth be told, the C63 S is already extremely impressive with 503 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque good for a 0-60 time in under four seconds. You know what that means. Bring your wallet.
Fresh off the craziest Porsche 911 color combo I’ve ever seen, today we have a Mercedes-Benz that is ready to join the party. This 1993 600SL looks innocent enough on the outside, but once you open those doors, the 1990s slap you right in the face. The dealer in Germany is claiming this is a one-off pre-merger AMG and while I’m normally skeptical of any dealer claim, I think I am buying this story. Although that is the only thing I’m buying once you see the asking price. Hold on.
If you say “aging twin-turbocharged V12 engine” to any sane car person, they’ll probably reply along the lines of “You couldn’t give it to me for free.” They probably wouldn’t be too far off, but it all comes down to expectations going into something like that. Is it going to be cheap and easy? Probably not. Is it going to be a total disaster of Maserati Biturbo proportions? Hopefully not. In all seriousness, the Mercedes-AMG M275 engine is about the best you can ask for in terms of what they made and how much reward you get from it, which is 604 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque. Much to everyone’s surprise and now delight, these engines have been proven to be anything but a rolling disaster. However, does that mean it is worth rolling the dice on one when the price becomes attractive enough? Let’s take a look with this 2008 with an impressive 80,000 miles on the odometer.
Some cars are all bark and no bite, while some are both, and very few are the opposite. If you were Mercedes-Benz in the 1990s, you weren’t concerned about being flashy and letting the world know what you were packing. Even more so when it came to then-small tuning arm AMG and their subsidies around the globe. Sure, you could order some different body work from them, but looking back now, it is extremely constrained compared to what we are used to as normal now. Today, we have a seemingly innocent S500 up for sale in Japan, although the multi-piece wheels and tiny little trunk badge is a little bit of a giveaway that this isn’t a normal S500.
Well, that didn’t take long. For years, I’ve been trying to predict a more expensive future for the W210 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG and it sure seems to be coming true. The really prime examples are bringing crazy money and it sure seems dealers are suddenly now chasing them. This 2001 model-year example up for sale in California sure seems to be that following that trend with just 34k miles and what appears to be outstanding conditioning; at least, at first glance. Let’s take a look.
