Driving Performance The AMG Magazine 2017/18 A fresh breeze for our anniversary The new Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster 50 Edition 50 50 Years of Mercedes-AMG Feature Photos Theodor Barth, Heiko Simayer 3 A glowing thought flows like molten lava — and cools. In one form for eternity. 4 5 The sky reveals itself in eleven seconds. It’s like opening a chilled soft drink. Habit forming. 6 7 Buff and steely. Down to every fiber of its being. No wonder, because Muscle Beach is just a stone’s throw away. 8 9 Just taking a short breather. Without letting it interrupt things. 10 The lights of Venice glow like the faces of its inhabitants in the morning. A new hero is in town. Open for business. Ideas arise out of the thoughts that live in creative minds and want to be free. So what would happen if 11 you stripped the best idea from something? The roof, for example. Have fun with the new Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster Edition 50. Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster Edition 50 Engine 4.0-liter V8 biturbo kW/hp 410/557 Nm at rpm 680 at 1,900–5,750 Fuel consumption Urban 15.1 l/100 km Extra-urban 9.0 l/100 km Combined 11.4 l/100 km CO2 emissions (combined) 259 g/km Efficiency class G 12 0–100 km/h 3.7 s Top speed 316 km/h 13 Just take a quick break. Enjoy the view. Only briefly, though. It’s time to move on. by Tobias Moers Tobias by A half-century of AMG. That’s 50 years of emotions, 50 years of dynamism, 50 years of Driving Performance. On the following pages we will take only a brief look backward, because a company with motorsport in its DNA is always looking ahead. To the next 5curve. To the next challenge.0 To the next 50 years. 14 In line with our anniversary, this year we are offering the Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster as an “Edition 50”. This roadster unites the tradition of our brand with modern technolo- gies taken directly from motorsport, along with the largest possible helping of emotion and dynamism. Then there’s the Mercedes-AMG GT Concept, with which we are offering a vision of our third sports car developed entirely in-house. It isn’t just another member of the Mercedes-AMG GT sports car family, it’s also an important milestone and a window onto our definition of Future Performance. In September 2017, we are going to surprise you with a special car at the Frankfurt Motor Show: With the Mercedes-AMG Project ONE, we are working on a hypercar with a high- performance hybrid drive straight out of Formula 1. In this car, we are combining the experience of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport and the expertise of Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains. Moreover, we are concentrating the cumulative develop- ment energy of Mercedes-AMG in Affalterbach in a single breathtaking vehicle. For the 50th anniversary of the AMG brand, we’ve augmented Driving Performance Mag- azine with many additional articles in order to pay homage to our history — but above all to our big projects for the future. Let yourself be inspired by our passion for the future. On to the next 50 — with you! 50 shop at santoniforamg.com ITA_AMGmag_216x280_AMG_apr.indd 1 15/03/17 17:15 “AMG is 50! Our idea of a perfect anniversary year? Breathing deeply in an open-top Mercedes- AMG GT C Roadster then hitting the gas. On the way to AMG Future Performance.” 16 Eva Wiese Head of Marketing & Product Management Mercedes-AMG Contents 014 Yeah! AMG is 50 – congratulations from the CEO 020 Gimme five A Beastie Boy gone astray 026 The gang Club fever in a Chinese megalopolis 042 Good versus evil A profile of a profiler 046 Sports lessons The AMG Driving Academy is 10 058 Foreseen On the future of sports cars 060 Shooting star Celebrity photographer Rankin 068 Speed learning On the racetrack with the E 63 074 Hypercar Eva Wiese Spying on the first test drive 17 082 Leaps and bounds Head of Marketing & Parkour athlete Jason Paul 092 Bonding time Product Management Private Lounge Days Barcelona 098 Summiteer Mercedes-AMG Melissa Arnot pushes to the top 102 Well trained The racing cars from AMG 114 Hats off Stylish headwear from L.A. 120 Hellfire Setting records on the Nordschleife 128 Show yourselves! These people are part of Mercedes-AMG 140 Four+ wins The new all-wheel drive in detail 144 Viva Italia! In the footsteps of Da Vinci 154 A little kick A master barista from Japan Shortcut 18 White-blue – a surprising color combination. With a little imagination, you can hear the rush of the waves. The Definition of Blue The first glance beguiles. This is no or- dinary Mercedes-AMG C 63 S Cabriolet. Instead it is an extremely limited de- sign piece with a clearly defined target group: style fetishists. Ocean Blue is not the deep, dark marine blue found Mercedes-AMG out in the middle of the ocean. It is C 63 S Cabriolet much more like the sea blue found near Ocean Blue Edition the coast — bright, almost gleaming, glittering in the sunshine — as you Engine might observe so clearly along, say, the 4.0-liter V8 Pacific. A hue with magical allure that biturbo conveys a feeling of effervescent light- ness. Of joie de vivre. Of relaxation. Of kW/hp paradisal places. Of wanderlust. It was 375/510 these worlds of imagination that in- spired the designers at Mercedes-AMG Nm at rpm to create the C 63 S Cabriolet Ocean 700 at 1,750–4,500 Blue Edition. In doing so, they constant- ly had a very special clientele in mind Fuel consumption for whom they created this new, won- Urban derful color: people who know how to 12.4–12.0 l/100 km cultivate their individual lifestyle, who Extra-urban are passionate about fashion and de- 7.5 -7.2 l/100 km sign, and for whom power in the work- Combined place as well on the road is an absolute 19 9.3–8.9 l/100 km must. And an exclusive one at that. The Ocean Blue Edition is limited to CO2 emissions 150 vehicles and includes the most cut- (combined) ting-edge assist systems and comforta- 218–208 g/km ble yet sporty control systems. The existing exterior colors are not off the Efficiency class shelf. Instead they impart tailor-made E elegance. Designo cashmere white mag- no and designo selenite grey magno. 0–100 km/h But then why the name Ocean Blue? 4.1 s Here, as with all beautiful things that make our lives worthwhile, it also pays Top speed to take a close look at the details on 250 km/h this convertible. The way the decorative (electronically leather stitching delicately and dis- limited) creetly adorns it. The analogue clock in an IWC design in the instrument panel. The wheels with their elegant cross- spoke design. But the designers’ own attention to detail is best showcased by the large surface of the stylish soft top: Ocean Blue — the color that lends the vehicle its name but above all gives it its incomparable character. Should we still talk about the engine? Maybe just a little: a hand-assembled V8, 510 hp, ca- pable of 0 to 100 km/h in 4.1 seconds. Shortcut 20 With the HIGH FIVE project, Mike D supports kids who’ve had a rough start in life. Space for Freedom The warehouse on Munich’s east side is boarders in Munich isn’t bad. The op- tiled in white. Along the ceiling run ex- portunities for the kids from HIGH posed wires and pipes. The floor is bare FIVE to skate together in winter, howev- concrete. Every word, every step echoes er, are few. The Laureus Sport for Good back from the walls. It doesn’t really Foundation and Mercedes-AMG are look anything like fun. Mike D, howev- now providing a solution with the con- er, seems to perceive the room com- struction of a new indoor location with pletely differently. Emptiness still pre- a skatepark. In addition to sports, HIGH vails, but he already sees rails, ramps FIVE also wants to offer creative pro- and quarter pipes here. Mike D has jects here: workshops on music, street come to Munich to launch a skatepark. art, design and photography. “At the Mike D — Michael Diamond in real life end of the day, it’s about having a pro- — was a co-founder of the legendary tected space that we can count on to be Beastie Boys and, along with his band- available to us all year round,” says In- mates, was for decades one of the glob- grid Gasser, chairwoman of HIGH FIVE. al stars of the hip-hop scene. The Beast- The goal is to create a place for new ie Boys’ time in the spotlight has since friendships. And an offering that broad- come to an end, but the 51-year-old is ens horizons, says Gasser. The skate- as creative as ever. He continues to board seems to be exactly the right work as an artist and a music producer. piece of sports equipment for that. Furthermore, in the Bavarian state When Mike D talks about his boyhood capital he has assumed sponsorship of years on the board, his blue eyes light the nonprofit association HIGH FIVE, up.