AMG

Mercedes-AMG GmbH, commonly known as AMG (initially known as Aufrecht Melcher Großaspach (German)), is the high performance division of the Mercedes-Benz car company. Mercedes-Benz acquired majority interest in AMG in 1999.

AMG or Aufrecht Melcher Großaspach was founded as a racing engine forge in 1967, as AMG Motorenbau und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (AMG Engine Production and Development, Ltd.), by former Mercedes engineers Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher, in a town called Großaspach, near Stuttgart.

“AMG” is an abbreviation which stands for: Hans Werner Aufrecht (A) and Erhard Melcher (M) who were partners, while Aufrecht’s birthplace of Großaspach (G) supplied the third letter in the company name.

By the early 1980s, AMG had moved to nearby located in Affalterbach under the sole ownership of Aufrecht. Erhard Melcher stayed at the second location, a former mill in Burgstall, to deliver engine parts.

Mainly for the modern Mercedes-Benz W107,[3] Mercedes-Benz W126 and Mercedes-Benz W201 models, AMG was producing a range of unofficial upgrade and accessories packages, although there were no official tie-ups until the mid 1980s, when AMG started to supply the company with aftermarket alloy wheels and automotive styling products. Typical AMG cosmetic and performance enhancements from 1979 to 1985, which could all be custom ordered by the buyer, included 15″ or 16″ ATS for AMG 5 spoked Penta wheels, Recaro seats, painting of all external chrome parts to the car’s body color or to black, an AMG steering wheel with a smaller diameter than the one that came standard with the car, lowered and stiffened suspension, aerodynamic AMG front air dam and spoiler kit, modified cams, a custom exhaust to increase the base horsepower, and in rare cases a 5 speed manual transmission.

he release of the AMG Hammer sedan in 1986, based on the Mercedes-Benz W124, took AMG’s performance modifications for a fast compact sedan to a new level. AMG made the world’s fastest passenger sedan at the time, nicknamed the Hammer, by tuning a Mercedes 5.6-liter V8 to 360 hp, and squeezing that motor into Mercedes’ midsized 300-series sedan. It was very aggressive for the era with a modified Mercedes-Benz 5.6 liter engine, 32-valve cylinder heads and twin camshafts, good for 360 bhp DIN. It was said to be faster than the Lamborghini Countach from 60 to 120 mph. Later models were even more powerful and introduced the 17″ AMG Aero 1 Hammer wheels.

To take advantage of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) race successes, official AMG-Mercedes models were developed in the 1990s. Since the Mercedes-Benz takeover, AMG sales have risen over 500%.

In addition, AMG provides safety cars for the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

A recent development, the AMG performance Studio located in Affalterbach, caters for bespoke modifications on all AMG and standard Mercedes-Benz models.

In 1991 Daimler acquired 51% of AMG, Hans Werner Aufrecht sold his remaining shares of the company in 2005.

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