Pre-AMG Power: 1992 Mercedes-Benz 500 E brochure

All brochure images are from the collection of Mark J. McCourt

Mercedes-Benz and muscle car used to be mutually exclusive terms, although you’d never know that by looking at the plethora of AMG models available -14 models sharing five engines!- in today’s U.S. lineup. This formerly independent tuning firm, whose initials stand for engineers and founders Aufrecht and Melcher and the town of Großaspach, began specializing in building racing engines for Mercedes-Benzes in 1967, before branching out to offering high-performance components for Mercedes-Benzes, as well as complete custom cars. They worked their magic on the new-for-1986 “W124″ 300 E, replacing this car’s inline-six engine with a 5.6-liter DOHC V-8 and creating the near-190 MPH 300 E AMG 5.6, famously dubbed “The Hammer.” AMG would sign an official agreement of cooperation with Daimler-Benz in 1990, and in 2005, would become a wholly-owned subsidiary.

The Hammer proved to Mercedes-Benz that a V-8-powered E-class was a winning proposition, and the Stuttgart firm followed the same path they had before with the famous 1968-1973 300 SEL 6.3 and 1975-1980 450 SEL 6.9 to create the 1992 500 E. This first production V-8-powered E-class was developed and built by neighboring firm Porsche, and it carried an $80,000 price tag, plus a gas-guzzler tax of up to $2,600 (a total cost of roughly $140,500 in today’s money), when the 300 E it was based on cost $49,500. Only 633 would be imported to the U.S. in 1992.

Of course,  you got what you paid for in the form of a 322hp, 5.0-liter, DOHC V-8 engine, wider fender flares covering wider 16-inch wheels and tires, four individual bucket seats, a smaller sport steering wheel, and much more. You also got to rip to 60 MPH in 5.8 seconds and run into the 155 MPH electronic speed limiter very quickly.

A V-8 would be part of the subsequent generations of E-class from the get-go, so this model remains one of Mercedes-Benz’s last truly hand-built banker’s hot rods.

Click on the brochure images below to enlarge.