Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
Back in “the day” if you knew about what AMG was and the cool things they produced, you could have a little taste. If you purchased a Mercedes-Benz product and took your new car to AMG West in Beverly Hills, California or AMG of Missouri, you had your choice of the catalogue. Truth be told, most of the products were bolt-ons, although there were some power upgrades in terms camshafts and exhaust systems. Today’s car, a 1986 190E 2.3 up for sale in California, is one of those bolt-on cars.
Now that the summer is drawing to a close, we inch closer to another year where the clock moves one year ahead on the 25-year import rule for those who live in the United States. For certain cars that were built early in the model year like September and October, this is a big difference marker. What I mean by that is if you are looking to import 1998 model year, that doesn’t mean you have to wait until 2023. If that door sticker says “09/97” but it is a 1998 model year, you are good to go. But remember this could also work against you if it is made several months into that current model year.
Today’s car isn’t that case quite yet, but it is getting there and the hard work of getting it on North American soil is already done. Yes, this is 2001 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG Estate up for sale in British Columbia at a still somewhat reasonable price. Although, what if I told you there was a way to bring this thing in the US legally right now?
Mercedes-Benz has an interesting habit of giving names to the colors but having them look nothing like you would expect. Just recently I looked at a 2005 S600 finished in Designo Graphite Green Metallic but as you can see, there is nothing in that shade of color that shows green. It is all graphite for sure, but green? Nothing. Today, we have another one of those colors with this 2013 SLS AMG GT that is finished Designo Cashmere Pearl. Just looking at the color, I’m not seeing anything that would tell me that is cashmere or pearl. Strange, right? Well, this one might have an explanation.
Just one time I’d love to get the full story on how these crazy low-production cars actually ended up getting built. Did the board member in charge of production planning buzz off to St. Moritz for three weeks and the guys on the production line throw together some leftover parts until he got back? Then again, these are the Germans here. Nothing is done without a meeting, another meeting, a planning session, a meeting about the planning session, and then a very precise schedule about production but not before having a safety meeting. There is a method to this madness, and madness is what we got with today’s car.
This is 1998 Mercedes-Benz C55 AMG. Reportedly there were 59 of these cars produced, which were the then-W202 C-Class AMG but with the 5.4-liter M113 from the E55. Why only 59? Who knows. Although this one has something different about it that you can see through the windshield. It is in fact one of the very few right-hand-drive examples for the UK.
I have to give it to Mercedes, they milked as much as they could from the C190 AMG GT chassis. Launched for the 2015 model year, the lineup includes the GT, GT S, GT C, GT R, GT R Pro, GT and GT C Roadster, GT Black Series, and the track-only GT Track Series. Missing from that list is today’s car, the GT R Roadster. Production was limited to just 750 units – probably because they wanted people to just go buy the SL63 AMG.
