Mercedes-Benz AMG specials at the motor show

Mercedes-Benz is going all out for an impact at AIMS with everything from a giant stand to specially built hero cars. It’s also showing the biggest range in the history of the German including the latest arrival, the A-Class baby, and the gullwing SLS supercar.

Three very, very special AMG hero cars have been built for the Sydney show. In the year where AMG celebrate 45 years as a performance brand, a small team within Mercedes-Benz Australia wanted to create three stunners to celebrate the naturally aspirated V8.

Just like Jaffa (the bright orange C63 starred for the brand in 2010 at Darling Harbour), they will eventually be delivered to local owners . The Benz belters are a Special Edition SLS AMG Roadster, an SLK 55 AMG and a C63 AMG coupe which have mirror-image paint and trim – with the body colour on one reflected in the interior trim on the other.

The SLS Coupe was a standout in matte black at the last Sydney show and spokesman David McCarthy says the 2012 edition is just as good, but a little more restrained. “It is subtle and a bit special. Is it the successor to Jaffa? No, each of our show cars is different,” he says.

The SLS Roadster has a number of special options fitted but the paint is what you want to look at. Considering the paint work retails for over $20,000 alone and has more glitter than you’ve ever seen on a car, this roadster will sparkle on the Mercedes-AMG stand in Sydney. “Our team, in product development and public relations, spend many nights sweating the details to make the cars special.

We hope visitors to the show appreciate what we’ve done,” he says. Even though Benz is a tiny player in Australia, based on its showroom numbers, it is only beaten by Holden and Toyota for the size of its stand.

It is being loaded with 25 cars, including those that were created specially for the event. “We need the space to showcase our entire range from the Smart For Two to the S-Class and the AMG range, which is the largest performance vehicle range in Australia,” McCarthy says.

“We have the biggest stand of any importer and the third largest overall. We think this shows our commitment to one national show each year,” McCarthy says. “We make a special effort to provide the show-goer with an experience and vehicles they would not normally have the opportunity to see up close and personal,” he says.

“We are very keen on engaging our current audience and our new audience with the A-Class, as well as giving punters good value for their admission fee.” The value of the cars on the Benz stand tops $3 million, and the company says that it gets a lot of business from the motor show, although it’s reluctant to give any details.

“We are very satisfied with the sales outcome we have had from the shows, but we don’t intend giving a free kick to our competitors by telling them exactly how many,” McCarthy says, laughing. A big stand needs big news and the arrival of the new A-Class (seen on this page) in March 2013 will change the premium compact segment from then on.

In fact, its effect will be felt beyond the confines of its supposed class. Though the CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake will be a bit of eye candy, A-Class’s sharp starting price is sure to be a big attraction. This marks the return of the A-Class to Australia and it will arrive jam-packed full of standard goodies such as automatic transmission, reversing camera and anti-collision warning.

All this and more starting from just $35,600 right through to the top of the range A250 Sport for $49,900 which has had a little bit of tuning from AMG.