People are allowed to buy and sell cars whenever they want and, unless there’s something illegal going on, they should be afforded the same privacy any of the rest of us get when transacting over a car. That being said, there are some extremely nice Mercedes-Benz cars of the AMG varietal for sale on Bring A Trailer. All in black. All low-mileage stunners.
I’m curious. Of course, I’m curious. Curiosity, sometimes, is my job. Someone has a very specific taste for cars and, over time, acquired quite a collection of a very specific kind of car, ranging from a relatively accessible 2012 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Black Series to a you-can’t-have-that show-and-display CLK DTM AMG Coupe.
Any one of these cars would fit in with someone’s nice collection of cars, but these cars were chosen by a particular kind of person with either a taste for the very special or a taste for everything. I say that because the dealer, Silver Arrow Cars Ltd, had this to say in one of the listings:
This collection (5 of the 6) resided in one of the absolute best car collections in the USA and maybe the world. To put things into perspective the room mates were a Mclaren F1, Porsche 959S, Mclaren P1 x 2, Porsche 918, Porsche Carrera GT etc… I forget the other 100 cars I saw in the collection. (Tongue in cheek).
Each one of these Black Series examples was curated by the owner to have the absolute best of the best examples.
We were lucky enough to make a deal to buy the 5 cars and shipped directly to the factory owned Mercedes-Benz Classic center in Long Beach, California.
The only car in the collection that doesn’t fit is the Black Series Project ONE, which makes sense because:
The AMG GT Black Series with the project 1 livery came from a separate collection that is monumentally larger than the above collection. The Project 1 livery is the ultimate in the AMG GT Black Series as it was only offered to owners that ordered the Project 1 Supercar.
If you can’t afford a Project ONE I guess a Project ONE Mercedes-AMG GT is the next best thing. This kind of sale is a pretty smart play as individually selling these cars might get a little attention, but selling them as a mini-collection gets people (like me) to pay attention.
Let’s look at what’s for sale.
2,800-Mile 2012 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Black Series
This has already been bid up to $125,000 and represents the most common of the cars here, which is to say they built something like 800 of these. This is a C63 Coupe with the AMG-massaged M156 6.2-liter V8 putting out 510 horsepower to the rear wheels. It’s painted in Obsidian Black with the special aero package and adjustable rear carbon fiber wing. This car only has 2,800 miles on the odo and is begging to be driven.
2,300-Mile 2008 Mercedes-Benz CLK63 AMG Black Series
What if you want an earlier generation Black Series and, maybe, you’re not as interested in the shouty aero? May I interest you in the 2008 CLK63 AMG Black Series, currently bid up to $150,000. While it’s slightly down on power to the C63 above, at just 500 horsepower, that’s not what you’re paying for in this situation. It’s the rarity. Only 500 of these were built and there’s something about those 19-inch alloy wheels that really speak to me. Also, fewer AMG products than you’d guess come with limited-slip differentials, but this is one of them. This is finished in code 04oU black, which is called “Black” and looks… black.
2k-Mile 2009 Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Black Series
I was very tempted to write “this isn’t normally my thing but…” and then I realized that’s a pretty trite perspective. First, no one cares what my thing is. Second, this is absolutely my thing. Just look at it. Only 350 of these were made on the facelifted SL platform and that might explain the $250,000 current bid. Also, this is the top-of-the-line Benz at the time and has the matching performance, including a 661 horsepower, hand-built twin-turbo 6.0-liter V12.
Also, it’s painted in “black.”
2,800-Mile 2005 Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM AMG Coupe
I could make an argument for owning any of these cars, but this one requires no argument at all. It’s just Billie Eilish saying “duh” on repeat in my brain. What can I say? I’ve got a thing for the big-body Benzes, it dulls my senses.
I’ll let BAT explain this one:
The CLK DTM AMG was developed by Mercedes-Benz and launched in 2004 to commemorate winning the 2003 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) Championship. It features DTM-inspired bodywork with lightweight flared fenders, a carbon-fiber rear wing, a split rear diffuser, and dual twin-exit exhaust outlets. Production totaled 100 coupes and 80 convertibles, and the model was sold exclusively in the European market. This example is finished in black and features bi-xenon headlamps as well as tinted windows.
This car is extremely hot and extremely not legal here, except that it’s gotten NHTSA approval to be brought in as “show and display” car, meaning it can’t be used as a daily driver but can be owned and driven under 2,500 miles per year. In a few years this car will be legal, though I assume it still won’t be driven that often. This is the one I want, but someone else wants it for $350,000 so… I’m out.
149-Mile 2014 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series
The SLS AMG Black Series is cool because all SLS Benzes are cool because they have the doors. You’re paying for the doors. In this case, you’re paying at least $500,000 because the doors have barely been used. In fact, the doors may have been used more than the tires on this car. But, because it’s Obsidian Black Metallic (197) and not Black (04oU) I shall pass. Also, I don’t have $500,000, or whatever this is going to go for over the next nine days.
333-Mile 2021 Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series AMG ONE Edition
This feels like it was supposed to be the showpiece, and the selling dealer said it was acquired just for this sale but… IDK. It’s cool. I’ve driven a Mercedes-AMG GT or two in my day and it’s a great car, but this one I think you’re buying because… you have an AMG Project ONE and forgot to order the matching GT Black Series? You like the paint? You’re going to F1 Las Vegas and want to look cool? Someone is willing to pay at least $430,000 for it, and that’s probably a deal considering this exact car might have sold at auction last November for $665,000. And, again, it’s the wrong black.
If you’re interested in any of these cars you’ve got about 8ish more days to bid. Given a blank check, which one are you picking up?
All photos: Bring A Trailer listings
Damn there’s something about these Black cars. It’s like, how much more Black could they be?
The answer is none. None more Black.
Is this a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy reference? If not, it was a missed opportunity.
Spinal Tap!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSkGtW-fQ3s
I really don’t understand the value delta between a tpyicaly AMG GT Black series and the AMG One variant. Ok so it has a special livery and fewer were made than the “standard” Black Series? They’re mechanically identical right?
It’s cool and all, and I can see some slight value increase, but 20% or more is absurd. These special editions with arbitrarily limited special paint have all the substance of a jpeg of a monkey
They’re for the type of asshole that buys an SLS AMG and only drives it 149 miles in 10 years, to show off to other assholes who horde the same.
What a massive waste of great driver’s cars. This isn’t even so much a car story as it is navel gazing at the wealthy. People who hoard cars as assets make me a sad panda.
Some rich guy wanted them for his personal museum. Now some middle man is going to sell them to you for more profit! Woah, what a majestic car enthusiast story!
And lets face it, someone spending $350k on the CLK DTM isn’t driving it either.
How do I know you aren’t really a sad Chow-Chow dyed black and white?
https://www.boredpanda.com/china-zoo-panda-exhibit-dyed-chow-chow-dogs/
They sure look like dust magnets.
I’ll take both the CLKs. I love the look of the elegant, classical CLK wrapped in purposeful racecar-esque bodywork. I love the C63 coupe too, but in that case I think I could save some money and be just as happy in a non-Black Series.
Tangentially, I saw Alex Ovechkin driving his SL65 Black Series once.
The CLK63 Black is at the top of my list for “cars I buy when I wake up a billionaire”. It is brutal, focused not at all on comfort, and I have loved it since the moment they first announced it. The others are cool, especially the CLK DTM, but the CLK63 Black is the one that lives in my dreams. That, and a Euro-spec 450SEL 6.9.
Same. CLK63 Black is just absolutely epic and beautiful at the same time. The Top Gear review of it is a video I constantly go back to.
Sorry if this is basic but the SLS. I don’t care about the doors – not saying I won’t giggle every time, just not my thing in particular. I do, however, love how M-B puts a big snoot on some their cars and it just works for me. See also the AMG GT.
Unfortunately, I have a strong suspicion my blank check is gonna bounce.
I’ll take the C63 for the sound alone.
Only one car worth buying here: https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExMDV4eTF3d3lxandtNGM2czA0YjkxMXk3eGRqbnc1eHE3NHpzNXRobSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/l3V0jT9ewG1zNiQwg/giphy.gif
I want none of these.
My favorite AMGs are the old ones where you can’t tell it’s an AMG.
I like AMG’s that look and sound like Grandpa’s Mercedes, but are fast as hell.
I kinda prefer Brabus generally for that reason.
Those unassuming AMGs are epic. I remember watching some show in the early 90s or late 00s with amateur race car drivers – this guy had a Mini he was racing but blew it up on day 1, so the next day he took his wife’s E55 (the boxier styling, early 90s I think) and it performed amazingly. That was my introduction to AMGs and sleeper sedans.
Blank check? The DTM. Because rarity. And because I don’t have an AMG Project One to pair the GT to.
If I have to live with it / get to drive it? The CLK63. I prefer subtle. Less attention from the local constabulary.
They must’ve seen what AMG is doing today and been so repulsed that they felt they had no choice but to forsake the three pointed star for good
The SL65 is of course a 6.0 V12, not a V8
Indeed, thank you!
Cars, I believe, are built to actually be driven. I do not believe in animatronic art collections, or even automotive investments that aren’t the stock market. So these always make me very sad. These are peak drivers cars, none of which are ever going to be allowed to do the very job they were built to do.
If Jay Leno can find time and make a point of driving his entire collection, even his McLaren F1, these people have no excuse other than vanity and greed.
I agree 100%. But there is one perspective that I think I can understand… hear me out.
Benz says you only get a shot to own their most specialist car ever if you have a special collection. And, to get that special collection you have to buy a bunch of stuff that is very nice but not that one car you want to own. So, what do you do? You buy every car that you can and that gets you on the list. Then, at some point you dump some of them.
That’s how Benz makes it work. So, if you have the money you play the game. Still sad that the cars sit, but Benz just wants the money.