Is a AMG c class a supercar brand?

[Palmball]

Wow...this thread has come on so far since I went to bed last night

I think we're all in agreement that a C63, or the majority of AMG's, cannot be classed as a 'Supercar'. It's just to....ordinary and based on a regular car.

But a muscle car?? Yes...yes....I like that! The huge engine in a normal body, the sound and the massive torque....yes, all that makes it a genuine muscle car.

palmball when do you get your new toy ?

Officially, the date given to me for the factory collection is the 15th April as the build date is the 27th March - and as a result I'm going to have to negotiate the small matter of an extra £500 in tax with the dealer! It doesn't look like the dealer is going to be able to bring this forward.

My current C63 goes to it's new owner the day after I get back from my mammoth drive around Europe that I'm doing next week so the dealer are sorting me out with a courtesy car for the 4 weeks I'll be without a car - can't complain at that now can I!

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

A super car is one of those cars as a kid you had pictures on your bedroom walls and look out of this world.

For me it was a Lamborghini Countash LP5000Qv with the spoiler !!!

I never had those pictures but friends did. Red frame. Red, white or black car. Black and grey background graphic.

The Countach is the definitive poster supercar for me too - so I reckon that dates us at the same age give or take a little. I actually preferred the Testarossa though.

I would love to go back in time even if only for a day to soak up a little of the excess of the late '80s. I think I was born 10 years too late...



Just for you...

 

[A210AMG]

Bobby and getting too close to 40.....

Yep Lambo posters / pictures everywhere on my walls when I was a kid..

Dad even took us to the Lambo Factory on a Holiday in August many moons ago....it was shut!!! so ended up going round a Ferrari Museum over the road


Happy days indeed.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

According to Wikipeda:

Supercar is a term generally used for ultra-high-end exotic cars, whose performance is superior to that of its contemporaries. It has been defined specifically as "a very expensive, fast or powerful car",[1] and stated in more general terms: "it must be very fast, with sporting handling to match," "it should be sleek and eye-catching" and its price should be "one in a rarefied atmosphere of its own."[2] but the proper application of the term is subjective and disputed, especially among enthusiasts.
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An advertisement for the Ensign Six, a 6.7 L (~409 cu in) high-performance car similar to the Bentley Speed Six, appeared in The Times for 11 November 1920 with the phrase "If you are interested in a supercar, you cannot afford to ignore the claims of the Ensign 6."[3] The Oxford English Dictionary also cites the use of the word in an advertisement for an unnamed car in The Motor dated 3 November 1920, "The Supreme development of the British super-car."[4] and defines the phrase as suggesting 'a car superior to all others'. A book published by the Research Institute of America in 1944, that previewed the economic and industrial changes to occur after World War II,[5] used the term "supercar" (author's emphasis) to describe future automobiles incorporating advances in design and technology such as flat floorpans and automatic transmissions.[6]
The phrase Supercar did not become popular until much later and is said to have has its revival originated with British motor journalist L. J. K. Setright writing about the Lamborghini Miura in CAR Magazine in the mid-1960s. The magazine was originally launched in 1962 as Small Car and Mini Owner, and claims to have "coined the phrase"[7]
In the United States, the term "supercar" predates the classification of muscle car[8] to describe the "dragstrip bred" affordable mid-size cars of the 1960s and early 1970s that were equipped with large, powerful V8 engines and rear wheel drive.[9] The combination of a potent engine in a lightweight car began with the 1957 Rambler Rebel that was described as a "veritable supercar."[10] "In 1966 the sixties supercar became an official industry trend"[11] as the four domestic automakers "needed to cash in on the supercar market" with eye-catching, heart-stopping cars.[12] Among the numerous examples of the use of the supercar description include the May 1965 issue of the American magazine Car Life, in a road test of the Pontiac GTO, and how "Hurst puts American Motors into the Supercar club with the 390 Rogue"[13] (the SC/Rambler) to fight in "the Supercar street racer gang" market segment.[14] The "SC" in the model name stood for "SuperCar".[15]
By the 1970s and 1980s the phrase was in regular use, if not precisely defined.[16][17]
During the late 20th century, the term Supercar was used to describe "a very expensive, fast or powerful car with a centrally located engine",[18] and stated in more general terms: "it must be very fast, with sporting handling to match", "it should be sleek and eye-catching" and its price should be "one in a rarefied atmosphere of its own".[19]

Both sides of the debate!

EDIT, Already posted on this thread doh!

 

[Dizwen]

wow! five pages! a simple pub debate turns into allsorts of things...

So, I can say a AMG C class is NOT a supercar, but a AMG SLS is?

Just like a Porsche 911/boxster is NOT a super car but the brand is a supercar brand?

So, Just like porsche/AMG you have your standard models (C63, E63,911 carrera/boxster) and your bespoke models, AMG SLS, AMG black, GT2, GT3, CGT etc...

So is AMG a supercar brand?!?

 

[Will]

No, AMG isn't a supercar brand because they don't really make any 'supercars'.

The SLS isn't a supercar, but it's probably as close as they got.

The SLR was an MB/McLaren built car and still isn't quite a proper supercar either IMHO.

A Supercar brand would be related to a company who primarily just produce supercars - Pagani, Lamborghini, Ferrari etc.

Will

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

no, amg isn't a supercar brand because they don't really make any 'supercars'.

The sls isn't a supercar, but it's probably as close as they got.

The slr was an mb/mclaren built car and still isn't quite a proper supercar either imho.

A supercar brand would be related to a company who primarily just produce supercars - pagani, lamborghini, ferrari etc.

+1

 

[Charles Morgan]

+2, although I would err on the side of think the SLR a supercar.

 

[Honey Bear]

No, AMG isn't a supercar brand because they don't really make any 'supercars'.

The SLS isn't a supercar, but it's probably as close as they got.

The SLR was an MB/McLaren built car and still isn't quite a proper supercar either IMHO.

A Supercar brand would be related to a company who primarily just produce supercars - Pagani, Lamborghini, Ferrari etc.

Will

See, on the SLR thing I have a different thought. The basic SLR isn't a supercar but the 722 I see that as being a hypercar.

And yes, Lamborghini are now making super cars but that is only very recently. Before then more of their cars were GT or hypercars. The Countach followed by the Diablo is a perfect example. Rubbish on roads and describes as poor on the track but they looked amazing. However Ferrari's 308 and 348 were proper fantastic little things - real super cars.

Pagani being the new boys have to compete, and they're doing so incredibly well. Hypercar looks with Supercar handling. That’s all down to how intricate they are in engineering their vehicles. They give so much attention to detail. Type carbotanium into google and see what pops up. An outlandish, over-the-top Pagani.

 

[Shude]

The SLR was an MB/McLaren built car and still isn't quite a proper supercar either IMHO.

The only things letting the SLR down as a "supercar" is a boot which MB claim is big enough for a couple of bags of golf bats and an interior borrowing heavily from the '230 SL.

In defence of the interior most low-production-number vehicles, supercars included borrow stuff from other cars as it's not financially viable to completely design stuff from scratch and have it tested to the same level as high-volume manufacturers can.

The tail lamps on the McLaren F1 were obviously from a truck, the windscreen wiper on a Venturi or DeTomaso (poss both) are from a W124, tail lamps on the XJ220 from a montego or something - these bits are hard/expensive to design so why not just pinch someone elses?

 

[bpsorrel]

I wonder if some of the supercars around now have been diluted by their big, corporate owners - - scratch the surface of a Lambo, Ferrari or Aston Martin and you'll reveal a fair amount of Audi, FIAT and Ford! Nothing like raiding the parts bin! I know it makes good financial sense, but when you know your hideously expensive Lamborghini carries quite a few VAG parts, does it still feel the same?

 

[Gridlock]

I can't find it now but there's an excellent picture of someone's pride-and-joy leather bound Aston Martin key that has peeled slightly, revealing the Volvo logo underneath

 

[Oily Rag]

Chris Evans or, ideally, Rowan Atkinson must own one.

Does this make the British Leyland Mangusta a supercar?

British Leyland and Supercar should, henceforth, never be used in the same sentence. I nearly threw up.

 

[Gridlock]

Don't let Mactech see you saying that

 

[Swozza]

My C32 can do runs of 0 - 6- in 4.6 sec. Which is supercar speeds, but a supercar is so much more than just speed. The C classes AMG are high performance luxury cars as are all AMG's. Anyone who gets the autocar mag will know at the back is all the 0 - 60 figures of super cars. The C's beat well over 50% of them.

A friend has a Maserati Spyder he thinks thats a supercar, its the topic of many disagrements as I think its no more a supercar than a 911.

 

[neilrr]

Some 911s are supercars.

 

[Charles Morgan]

A friend has a Maserati Spyder he thinks thats a supercar, its the topic of many disagrements as I think its no more a supercar than a 911.

A Maserati Spyder is no more a supercar than a Boxster. The only 911 based car for me that is, is a 959.

Just shows how elusive this definition is.

 

[Shude]

The only 911 based car for me that is, is a 959.

Porsche Carrera GT is also a supercar as it meets all the criterior:

Mid engine

10 cylinders

RWD

no back seats

only 1270 produced over 2 years

no "basic" model available to the unwashed

Contains something made from "carbon fibre reinforced silicon carbide"

cost ~£350k

Probably shares a lot of pumps/wiring/switches/interior parts from the 911 but could never be called "911 based". Alongside the 959 it's probably the only other Porsche supercar!

 

[neilrr]

A car doesn't need to have a mid engine layout to be a supercar.

 

[Shude]

A car doesn't need to have a mid engine layout to be a supercar.

No but it helps .