Before they became a performance arm of Mercedes-Benz, AMG was originally an independent tuning outfit. Their pre-merger magnum opus was a heavily modified 300CE called the 6.0 Hammer Coupe, and one of the few examples made for the North American market has just sold for a record-breaking price.
More specifically, while there were only ever around 30 AMG Hammers produced for the entire world, this one was one of 13 for North America, and one of only 5 of those that were coupes. Listed for sale on The MB Market, the 1988 Mercedes-Benz 6.0 AMG Hammer Coupe sold for an eye-watering $761,800, and with only 19,417 miles (31,249 km) on the odometer, we can see why, as the car was barely used.
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While many tuning companies today tend to add bolt-ons or alter software to make cars faster, that wasn’t the case with AMG, at least not for this car. The first step in the transformation from 300CE to AMG Hammer was swapping out the stock 3.0-liter inline-six for a 5.5-liter V8. From there, they then bored out the engine to 6.0 liters, earning the car the “6.0” in its name.
Once that was done, they balanced the internals and changed the heads to a twin-cam, four-valve setup from a single-cam, two-valve one. The end result of all these modifications? 385 hp (390 PS / 287 kW) and 417 lb-ft (564 Nm) of torque compared to the original 185 hp (188 PS / 133 kW) and 192 lb-ft (260 Nm).
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There’s also a handful of visual modifications that give this car its distinct look. The most notable of these comes in the form of the AMG body kit, which includes a sculpted front bumper with fog lights, widened fenders, a rear ducktail spoiler, a sculpted rear bumper, new side skirts, and dual AMG exhaust outlets. Other changes include 17-inch AMG Monoblock wheels, as well as AMG springs and shocks to assure the car not only handles well, but sits nicely while doing so.
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