Vlad
MB Enthusiast
Well, 2.5 years after I first clapped eyes on her, I have finally completed my AMG Hammer and as it was such a beautiful day today, I thought I would go out and burn some rubber and take some pics.
For those not familiar with this car, the AMG Hammer was developed by AMG back in the mid 80's, before they were owned by Mercedes.
AMG wanted to develop a car that would become a signature car for them and would demonstrate to the world what lengths they could go to if a customer requested it....the result was the AMG Hammer.
The idea was actually suggested to AMG by Ron Stratton the UK Agent for AMG at the time. He had converted and sold a handfull of W126 saloons and SEC Coupes, which used AMG's own Quad Cam 5.0 V8....these engines used AMG's own design of cylinder head (48 valve, twin cam heads) which they then fitted to a standard Mercedes 5.0 M117 V8 engine block, albeit with AMG pistons and Crankshaft etc etc. As a result of the conversion power was lifted to 340-355bhp....every engine produced slightly differing power levels as they were handbuilt. Interestingly second hand engine blocks were always used as they were "seasoned", ie all of the stresses and strains of a new engine block had settled down.....this is commonly used when building race engines.
Ron Stratton suggested to AMG that they convert the newly introduced W124and fit the Quad Cam engine, which they duly did and it became their most heavily modified car, right up and to the time they were taken over by Mercedes in the mid 90's.
The modification resulted in a base W124 2.0 being completely stripped and all of the mechanicals being thrown away. The engine bay was then heavily modified to take the much larger and wider Quad Cam engine. An S Class Automatic Gearbox with AMG valve bodies was then fitted. The rear axle carrier was modified and strengthend to cope with the extra power and a Gleason limited slip diff was also fitted. Brakes from the SL were also fitted and AMG's own suspension was fitted.
An AMG free flow exhaust system and manifolds was also fitted and lastly a customer could then request further changes to the interior and could also choose what bodykit they wanted fitting, along with Alloy Wheels.
Having tracked back the history on my car, it turns out that it was the original AMG press car and used to be registered as "1 AMG". Interestingly it turns out to be the first ever W124 Hammer conversion, having been built in Autumn 1985 at the AMG factory in Germany as the prototype. Its also a very very early right hand drive W124 in its own right, as it was registered in October 1985...the same month that right hand drive W124's went on sale in the UK.
Only 29 AMG Hammers were made, of which only 2 were right hand drive....the other Hammer was a later car that was owned by Jeff Lynne, the lead singer in ELO.....he subsequently wrote that car off.
Of the 29 cars built, 5 were saloons and the rest were Coupe's. Two Thirds of the production was sold to the US, where the cars were converted by the AMG North American agents.
Of the 29 that were built only a handful are left with the original Quad Cam engines.....its reckoned that 6-8 original cars are left.
The reason why so few cars were made was down to price....my car cost
£65K in 1985 and the last Hammer sold in 1990, was sold for $160,000, that particular car being a 6.0 Quad Cam CE Coupe.
In its day these were seriously quick motors.....infact it had the title of being the quickest four door saloon in the world.....The Vauxhaull Lotus Carlton had the title of quickest production 4 door saloon with a top speed of 175mph...the Hammer, not being a production car had a top speed of 186mph, which was achieved at the Nardo test track in Italy.
Performance through the gears was pretty spectacular with the 50-70 increment being faster than a Ferrari Testarossa, Lamborgini Countach and a Porsche Turbo.....not bad for a 4 door automatic......infact car tests at the time had the four of them up against each other.
Even now, its still a very very fast car and is a hoot to drive as other drivers in much newer machinery can't understand why an old C reg W124 is out accelerating them......its also very understressed with 100mph equating to just under 3000rpm and 125mph equating to 3500rpm.
Sound wise, the car does give the game away, for if you blip the accelerator it sounds like a full on Nascar V8.....sounds nothing like a Mercedes!
Anyway here's some pics, showing the finished car!
Additional Photos....click on links below
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/mjtray/DSCN3069-1.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/mjtray/DSCN3071.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/mjtray/DSCN3079.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/mjtray/DSCN3081.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/mjtray/DSCN3082.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/mjtray/DSCN3072.jpg
ps.....car is as shown on dials, 45,000 miles from new and full service history.
pps....car will be coming up for sale in due course...needs must....
For those not familiar with this car, the AMG Hammer was developed by AMG back in the mid 80's, before they were owned by Mercedes.
AMG wanted to develop a car that would become a signature car for them and would demonstrate to the world what lengths they could go to if a customer requested it....the result was the AMG Hammer.
The idea was actually suggested to AMG by Ron Stratton the UK Agent for AMG at the time. He had converted and sold a handfull of W126 saloons and SEC Coupes, which used AMG's own Quad Cam 5.0 V8....these engines used AMG's own design of cylinder head (48 valve, twin cam heads) which they then fitted to a standard Mercedes 5.0 M117 V8 engine block, albeit with AMG pistons and Crankshaft etc etc. As a result of the conversion power was lifted to 340-355bhp....every engine produced slightly differing power levels as they were handbuilt. Interestingly second hand engine blocks were always used as they were "seasoned", ie all of the stresses and strains of a new engine block had settled down.....this is commonly used when building race engines.
Ron Stratton suggested to AMG that they convert the newly introduced W124and fit the Quad Cam engine, which they duly did and it became their most heavily modified car, right up and to the time they were taken over by Mercedes in the mid 90's.
The modification resulted in a base W124 2.0 being completely stripped and all of the mechanicals being thrown away. The engine bay was then heavily modified to take the much larger and wider Quad Cam engine. An S Class Automatic Gearbox with AMG valve bodies was then fitted. The rear axle carrier was modified and strengthend to cope with the extra power and a Gleason limited slip diff was also fitted. Brakes from the SL were also fitted and AMG's own suspension was fitted.
An AMG free flow exhaust system and manifolds was also fitted and lastly a customer could then request further changes to the interior and could also choose what bodykit they wanted fitting, along with Alloy Wheels.
Having tracked back the history on my car, it turns out that it was the original AMG press car and used to be registered as "1 AMG". Interestingly it turns out to be the first ever W124 Hammer conversion, having been built in Autumn 1985 at the AMG factory in Germany as the prototype. Its also a very very early right hand drive W124 in its own right, as it was registered in October 1985...the same month that right hand drive W124's went on sale in the UK.
Only 29 AMG Hammers were made, of which only 2 were right hand drive....the other Hammer was a later car that was owned by Jeff Lynne, the lead singer in ELO.....he subsequently wrote that car off.
Of the 29 cars built, 5 were saloons and the rest were Coupe's. Two Thirds of the production was sold to the US, where the cars were converted by the AMG North American agents.
Of the 29 that were built only a handful are left with the original Quad Cam engines.....its reckoned that 6-8 original cars are left.
The reason why so few cars were made was down to price....my car cost
£65K in 1985 and the last Hammer sold in 1990, was sold for $160,000, that particular car being a 6.0 Quad Cam CE Coupe.
In its day these were seriously quick motors.....infact it had the title of being the quickest four door saloon in the world.....The Vauxhaull Lotus Carlton had the title of quickest production 4 door saloon with a top speed of 175mph...the Hammer, not being a production car had a top speed of 186mph, which was achieved at the Nardo test track in Italy.
Performance through the gears was pretty spectacular with the 50-70 increment being faster than a Ferrari Testarossa, Lamborgini Countach and a Porsche Turbo.....not bad for a 4 door automatic......infact car tests at the time had the four of them up against each other.
Even now, its still a very very fast car and is a hoot to drive as other drivers in much newer machinery can't understand why an old C reg W124 is out accelerating them......its also very understressed with 100mph equating to just under 3000rpm and 125mph equating to 3500rpm.
Sound wise, the car does give the game away, for if you blip the accelerator it sounds like a full on Nascar V8.....sounds nothing like a Mercedes!
Anyway here's some pics, showing the finished car!
Additional Photos....click on links below
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/mjtray/DSCN3069-1.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/mjtray/DSCN3071.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/mjtray/DSCN3079.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/mjtray/DSCN3081.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/mjtray/DSCN3082.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/mjtray/DSCN3072.jpg
ps.....car is as shown on dials, 45,000 miles from new and full service history.
pps....car will be coming up for sale in due course...needs must....
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