With 450 kW of power and 1 000 Nm of torque on tap the Mercedes-Benz CL 65 AMG and S65 AMG models are the most powerful and politically-incorrect AMG derivatives ever built. Pity they won’t be coming here—
I’d never heard of Richard Craven before but since reading about him earlier today I reckon he’s my kinda guy. Craven heads up London-based investor company Willis Owen, which has just launched a “vice fund” to invest in tobacco, drugs, drinks and arms manufacturing, and says that by investing in the kind of companies regularly attacked by all the nauseating Mother Grundies out there the fund will deliver good returns. If I worked for Mercedes-Benz in Europe I’d be hot-footing it to Willis Owen right now, because he sounds like the kind of guy who’d love to own a new Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG or S 65 AMG.
The exclusive Gran Turismo and the dynamic luxury saloon are powered by a newly designed 6-litre V12 biturbo engine delivering 450 kW (612 bhp) and maximum torque of 1000 Nm between 2000 and 4000 rpm. Both vehicles can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.4 seconds and reach a — bah, humbug — electronically limited top speed of 250 km/h. In order to cope with the high power output of the AMG biturbo engine, the front wheels of both the AMG V12 top models are equipped with a newly developed, high-performance eight-piston composite brake system with 390 x 36 mm grey cast-iron discs and aluminium brake-disc bowls. Contact with the road is taken care of by AMG 19-inch twin-spoke wheels equipped with 245/40 ZR 19 tyres at the front and 275/35 ZR 19 tyres at the rear.
The cars will be making their debut in the showrooms of Mercedes-Benz sales and service outlets and dealerships internationally in December 2003. There’s no intention of bringing them here, unfortunately, but if you have the tin and a telephone you can probably arrange something on the side—