At 2015 Detroit Auto Show, Mercedes-AMG Chief Executive Tobias Moers said that a hotter Black Series version of the AMG GT “is a car we must do.”
Mr. Moers, thank you for being as excited as we are.
The AMG GT S, which was unveiled in September, is quite the capable machine already. It equips a space-age, 4.0-liter biturbo V8 under its sculpted hood, enlists 503 horsepower in its 3.7-second charge to 60 mph, and has suspension bred for the circuit.
That said, there’s always room for growth.
AMG fans have been pondering a Black Series variant of the GT since its reveal, especially since the 622-hp SLS AMG that came before it was actually quicker in the straights. Renderings of the hypothetical sports car started to appear just the very next day.
Before that can happen, though, Moers told Autocar that Mercedes-AMG needs to create “a full family,” and the next offspring looks to be a GT3-style racecar.
GT3 regulations generally place cars between 2,645 and 2,866 pounds, with outputs ranging from 500 hp to 600 hp.
With those stipulations in mind, Moers said of the GT3, “We need more power, less weight, better aero and different suspension, but the targets should be the power-to-weight ratio, driveability, lap time and tremendous feel.”
The GT3 is due to arrive in 2016, and it could be the perfect stepping stone to an unhinged, primal Black Series down the road. Unfortunately for gearheads, it will probably be pretty far down that road.
“It won’t be here soon,” Moers explained in Detroit, “because Black Series cars tend to come towards the end of a car’s production cycle.”
That means we’ll be using our imaginations (and photo-editing tools) for at least a few years. In October, we reported that the AMG GT is scheduled to have a seven-year lifespan. The two-door will commence deliveries this spring.