The Early History of Mercedes-Benz AMG

Back in the mid-1960s, there were two guys with a small garage in an old mill, which has been building engines for fast cars, fast cars. When these two boys acted on their desire, have created a major supplier of high performance cars now exclusive. The two guys were Hans-Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher, the founder of AMG Motorenbau und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (AMG Engine Production and Development, Ltd.). Fortunately, the company name was later reduced to AMG.

Aufrecht Melcher and started in 1965 with the preparation of a racing engine for Manfred Schiek 300SE's. Two years later, the owners officially founded the company and started their humble beginnings in the works "Old" Postal, Germany.

According to historical information supplied by Mercedes-AMG, the first private customer of the new company was the owner of a Mercedes Kiel. With modest beginnings are always a good story. Here is the bottom of the story now in circulation, what is said in the history of Friedrich Aufrecht. Fredrick is the brother of AMG co-founder Hans-Werner.

A client of Kiel, a city on the northern border of Germany, is said to be the first private customer of the company Mercedes tuning youth. According to legend, was in the paddock for a race car when he got a tip. It 'been said about a garage in southwest Germany called AMG, which could squeeze every last ounce of torque from a Mercedes engine. This customer had a soft spot for the couple and decided to visit the garage. After following the instructions short, he faced two garage doors to a small mill. Garage doors so small, in fact, did not know if his Mercedes would fit inside. And 'this is the right place, he wondered? Ventured inside and found a well dug by hand inspection of the garage in the middle. Now, he was absolutely sure this is not the place asked: "Where can I find AMG? Mechanics said," you are AMG garage.

Later, the customer Kiel his car and headed home. It was almost in Frankfurt, where he turned and pushed. The mechanics could not believe that amazed. Just three hours later, their first private customer has already been reported to his car. To their disbelief, the customer drove all the way back to the pits to tell them what was personally happy with the car. The engineers were inspired and began the legacy AMG.

Over the next three years, AMG concentrated on building racing cars based on Mercedes-Benz 300SE sedan. They liked 300 different models of Mercedes-Benz and bad luck for a Mercedes owner has proven to be good luck for the AMG. They got wind of 300 damaged which was sold by a doctor and bought. It 'was purchased for less than $ 6,000 when new models selling for $ 20,000.

AMG mechanical enlarged holes in the cylinder, modified camshaft, intake manifold and various other components. DIY When they had finished, their investment in shares and deliver $ 100,000. They entered the race and met with major setbacks, but failure is not an option. Worked on and in 1971 the stadium was almost September They just need a driver for the 24 hours race in Spa, Belgium.

A few riders declined an offer to drive the Mercedes truck, including the then recent winner of Le Mans Gijsbert van Lennep. Finally, European champions kart Hans Heyer and Clemens Schickentanz AMG became available and have seen their team. The team won a surprising victory of class and finished second overall with their Mercedes-Benz AMG 300SEL 6.8 liters. persistence and passion of the owners has finally paid off for small businesses and their success spread rapidly.

In 1970 the company began offering high-performance tuning package for Mercedes customers in Europe and other markets. Some customers wanted and Mercedes AMG individually tailored to their needs as well. While the NASA technology transfer was AMG. They took the lessons learned on the track and applied their knowledge to production cars. It 'was a wise and successful choice for AMG, leading to ever higher orders and a solid reputation as the first Mercedes-Benz "tuner" in the world.

In 1978, the company has passed the former mill owners and met another drop of call. They moved their operation into a larger plant in Affalterbach, to better manage customers and staff that had 40 employees. Although the order of the cars rolling production changes, AMG has never lost sight of their passion for motorsport.

In 1980, a 450SLC AMG Mercedes took first place in the European Touring Car Championship Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. The future success of the AMG racing are too numerous to list now. Suffice it to say that have done well both on and off the track and the company continued to grow rapidly.

Only seven years after moving to Affalterbach, and AMG built a second plant employees made their 100 years. An important turning point for AMG was made five years later, in 1990, when the company signed a cooperation agreement with Daimler-Benz AG. With the agreement is entered into a third unit, an increase in staff of 400 employees and expects to sell products from AMG Mercedes-Benz located in overseas markets. Shortly after, AMG began preparing for the production and export of AMG cars on the American market, which is now the largest market for AMG.

The first "AMG" Car Journal to reach the shores of America was the 1995 C36 AMG, even though fans were privately imported gray market AMG as "The Hammer" much earlier. In 1999, DaimlerChrysler became the majority shareholder of Mercedes-AMG GmbH. The market demand for cars AMG was high and production increased from 500 to 20,000 cars per year by 2005, while DaimlerChrysler became the sole shareholder of Mercedes-AMG. Although things have changed in this period, the new owner has continued the tradition of AMG engine built using the "one man," the philosophy of an engine that continues to this day.