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The 2022 Mercedes-AMG G63 gets a special Edition 55 treatment to celebrate AMG’s 55th anniversary.The G63 Edition 55 includes unique exterior graphics as well as a red-and-black interior with “55” references throughout.Mercedes-AMG says it’ll be limited to 55 copies in the U.S. when it goes on sale later this year.In 1967, Mercedes engineers Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher first laid the foundation for what would become the brand’s high-performance AMG division. Now, 55 years later, Mercedes is commemorating that milestone with a specially designed 2022 Mercedes-AMG G63 dubbed Edition 55, of which only 55 copies will come to America.

The Edition 55 isn’t an ostentatious interpretation of the G63. In fact, only subtle exterior graphics on the lower part of its doors distinguish it from other G-wagens. However, its appearance has been specially curated for this configuration. That means every version features 22-inch forged wheels with a multispoke design and AMG’s Night appearance packages, which include numerous black exterior accents. The G63 Edition 55 pictured here wears G Manufaktur Opalite White paint. However, Mercedes says that color is reserved for other markets; U.S. models only come in Obsidian Black metallic.

Mercedes-AMG

Inside, the G63 Edition 55’s color scheme is also predetermined. The seats feature black-and-red nappa leather, with red accents also appearing on the interior door panels. The trim on the doors, center console, and surrounding the instrument panel and infotainment system is matte carbon fiber. Of course, it wouldn’t be a special edition without the obligatory badging, as seen by the “55” engraved on the bottom of the steering and “Edition 55” woven into the floor mats. The AMG logo illuminated in red is also integrated into the stainless-steel doorsills.

Mercedes-AMG

The 2022 AMG G63 is powered by a hand-built 577-hp twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 that pairs with a nine-speed automatic transmission and an all-wheel-drive system with three locking differentials. Despite weighing nearly three tons, we tested a 2019 model that hit 60 mph in an incredible 3.9 seconds. While more recently Mercedes has struggled with supply-chain issues that impacted V-8 production for the 2022 model year, causing certain models to be suspended, the company has since reinstated several of them, including the 2022 G63. Unfortunately, the availability of V-8–powered Benzes is still limited, but fans of the Mercedes-AMG G63 now know there will be at least 55 available in the U.S. market. However, a company spokesman told Car and Driver that the Edition 55 isn’t available to order and that customers should contact their local dealer for further details. Mercedes says the Edition 55 will be available later this year, but the company hasn’t yet announced pricing for any member of the 2023 G63 lineup.
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Lucid currently only builds the top-of-the-line Dream Edition but plans to introduce three lower-priced versions of the Air: the Pure, Touring, and Grand Touring.The Pure starts at $78,900 and the Touring costs $96,500, with both providing a projected 406 miles of range, while the $140,500 Grand Touring earned a 516-mile range estimate from the EPA.Lucid recently admitted that it may have to increase prices as a result of parts shortages and supply chain difficulties, but said it will honor the original prices for current reservation holders.The Lucid Air Dream Edition produces big numbers. The Performance model’s two electric motors churn out 1111 horsepower, while the Range model can travel 520 miles on a charge—the longest range of any EV rated by the EPA. But these impressive metrics also come with a sky-high price of $170,500, and while Lucid is planning cheaper versions of the Air down the line, there’s a chance that they could receive a price hike before production even begins.

Lucid Air Grand Touring
Lucid Motors

Currently, Lucid has begun deliveries of the Dream Edition Performance and the 933-hp Dream Edition Range. But in 2022 Lucid aims to introduce three lower-priced trims: the Pure, Touring, and Grand Touring. The Grand Touring, which Lucid recently started building, is the most powerful, with two motors providing 800 hp and all-wheel drive. Instead of the Dream Edition’s 118.0-kWh battery, the Grand Touring employs a 112.0-kWh battery good for 516 miles of range according to the EPA. As with the Dream Editions, opting for the 21-inch wheels knocks that figure down a bit, to a still impressive 469 miles. The Grand Touring starts at $140,500.

Lucid Air Pure.
Lucid Motors

The base model, called the Pure, will be the last to arrive, with 480 horsepower sent to the rear wheels by a single electric motor. Lucid claims 406 miles of range, and we estimate the Pure’s battery will have 88.0 kWh of capacity. Slotting above the Pure and using the same smaller battery pack will be the Touring, which gets all-wheel drive, 620 hp, and a projected 406 miles of range. The Pure and Touring will be significantly cheaper than their more powerful brethren, starting at $78,900 and $96,500 respectively. Both of the Dream Edition models are fully booked at the moment, with interested buyers offered a spot on a waiting list, and Lucid is currently accepting reservations for the other three trim levels.

Lucid Air Touring
Lucid Motors

As of the end of February, Lucid said it had more than 25,000 reservations for the Air but didn’t break down the reservations by trim. So far, Lucid has built more than 400 vehicles and predicts that 2022 production will be between 12,000 and 14,000 units. While sales numbers should increase as Lucid introduces cheaper versions of the Air, those trims might not stay as cheap for very long. Late last week, according to Reuters, Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson said the company is considering price hikes for future models. Rawlinson pointed to rising nickel prices as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as “huge inflationary pressures” and supply-chain issues, mostly around windshield glass, carpeting, and some exterior trim pieces. “I’m super frustrated because we’re not gated by silicon chips, we’re not gated by our ability to make electric motors,” Rawlinson explained.

But Rawlinson did stress that Lucid will not raise prices for current reservation holders, taking a different approach than electric startup Rivian, which announced a price increase for its R1T and R1S in early March. Rivian jacked up the prices regardless of whether customers had already placed a reservation based on the lower price, but after strong backlash, the company quickly reversed course. Lucid skipped the controversy, with Rawlinson making it clear that Lucid intends to “keep our commitments to existing reservation holders.” When these price increases might occur is yet to be seen, but given the volatile situation in Ukraine and the supply-chain constraints that have been rocking the auto industry for the past year, we wouldn’t be surprised to see changes in price before the cheaper versions of the Air even begin production.
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• A 2008 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG, powered by the wondrous M156 6.2-liter V-8, is our Bring a Trailer pick of the day with an online auction that ends on Saturday, March 26.• This was the first AMG engine designed from the ground up by the automaker’s go-fast division, and this era of AMG also represented a renewed focus on handling.• With V-8s on the continual decline among new cars, now’s the time to hang on to one of the greats.Seeing this third-generation W204 C63 AMG on BaT instantly transported me back to the fall of 2007 where I was terrorizing the roads of southern Germany in one of these as part of a very fast comparison test against the BMW M3 and Audi RS4. There was one out-of-the-way spot on an unlimited section of autobahn where the photographer wanted to do high-speed panning shots (or maybe just wanted to give us lifelong memories, because as I’m flipping back through the story now, I see none of those were used). We indulged with pass after pass, accelerating up to 150-plus mph then going down to the next exit, looping around, and repeating at least a half-dozen times. Even when not driving the Mercedes, I clearly remember how the sound of the AMG’s wailing V-8 could still hijack the cabin of the Audi or BMW.

The M156 engine is a monster of a naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V-8, the first engine developed from the ground up by the AMG division and not adapted from a lesser Mercedes powerplant; it appeared throughout the AMG lineup of the 2000s. At 3.9 seconds to 60 mph and 12.3 seconds in the quarter-mile, that 451-hp C63 was the quickest of the group by a significant margin. Even more than a decade later, it’s only a couple tenths off the pace of the most recent twin-turbo-V-8 C63, and it beats it in the rolling-start, 5-to-60-mph metric. Although it finished second to the monumental E90 M3, I’ve wanted to own an AMG with the 6.2-liter V-8 ever since.

The M156-powered AMGs have been quite affordable, too, with this particular car a low-mile example that appears to have been extremely well cared for. Bidding is currently at $34,000 with two days to go and, based on past results, might not get to $40K. Try to find an E90 M3 in equivalent condition for that price.

Bring a Trailer

But as overwhelmingly awesome as the 6.2-liter is, one of the best things about this era of AMG was a return to handling prowess in addition to straight-line speed. The C63 had a reworked front suspension with a 1.4-inch-wider track that helped it handle almost as well as it accelerated, although the downside was the worst ride quality of the group. It also could be had only with a seven-speed automatic, although it was so responsive to paddle inputs and shifted so quickly we called it “the world’s best automatic” in that comparison test.The fact that naturally aspirated V-8s, and V-8s in general, are headed for extinction make hanging on to one that much more desirable. This is a lot of car—and a lot of engine—for the money.

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A new electric startup from Austria, Deus Automobiles, will unveil its first car, the Vayanne supercar, at the New York auto show next month.Deus provided some dark teaser shots showing a low-slung car with mid-engine proportions.The Vayanne will have “technical support” from Italdesign and Williams Advanced Engineering. There’s a new electric startup in town. Yes, we know a new automaker seems to crop up nearly every week, showing off fantastical renderings of sleek EVs and touting supercar performance figures before slowly fading into obscurity when the hype dies down and the cash dries up. But the latest entrant, Deus Automobiles, which will reveal its first car next month at the New York auto show, might find more success thanks to two experienced partners, Italdesign and Williams Advanced Engineering.

Deus Automobiles

Deus Automobiles, based in Austria, has released teaser images for its first vehicle, the Vayanne, which the company says is named for Austria’s capital, Vienna. The dark images don’t reveal much, but we can clearly see a low-slung, mid-engine shape, large intakes in the front bumper, and slim LED headlights. The curve of the front end and the vertical headlights give it a whiff of Hennessey Venom F5, but we will have to wait for the full reveal to truly judge the Vayanne’s design.

Deus Automobiles

Deus hasn’t mentioned any performance specifications just yet, but the company has said that the Vayanne gains “technical support” from Italdesign, the famed design house started by Giorgetto Giugiaro, and Williams Advanced Engineering, an offshoot of the Williams Formula 1 team that has provided batteries for Formula E and Extreme E. The extent of the support from these two iconic brands is unclear, and Deus Automobiles could certainly end up being yet another electric pipe dream, but the involvement of those design and engineering powerhouses make us excited for the Vayanne’s reveal at the New York auto snow on April 13.
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This year marks the 55th anniversary of Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher founding a little company called AMG. Over the last half-century and change, that Affalterbach-based company has come to represent some of the most extreme sports cars on the road and the racetrack. Not one to let a milestone anniversary pass without some fanfare, Mercedes-AMG has just unveiled its most powerful customer car yet: the Mercedes-AMG GT Track Series.

Not to be confused with the former Black Series model, the Mercedes-AMG GT Track Series is a track-only weapon not suitable for road use. The car is based on last year’s roadgoing Black Series, though the team at AMG no longer had to be concerned with such trivial things as government regulations. Instead, the automaker utilized its knowledge from GT3 and GT4 racing to push the already crazy machine to its most extreme form. Under the hood still sits AMG’s 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8, retaining the flat-plane crankshaft of the roadgoing model. Thanks to the addition of some custom motorsports injectors and a new tune, the V-8 now cranks out 734 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque. Those figures represent gains of 14 hp and 37 pound-feet, respectively.

Mercedes-AMG

That power is now fed to the rear wheels via a sequential Hewland HLS six-speed racing transaxle. An adjustable racing differential is in place to help keep things orderly around the track. Mercedes-AMG has also fitted a set of four-way adjustable Bilstein dampers, complete with individually adjustable high and low-speed settings for rebound and compression. Putting that suspension to the ground is a set of 18-inch wheels, chosen due to the availability of competition tires in that size. Behind those wheels sits a set of motorsports-grade steel brakes, which feature adjustable brake balance like a proper racing car. Speaking of adjustability, the Track Series also comes equipped with 12-mode racing traction control and ABS setup. The aerodynamics package from the Black Series has also been upgraded for this track-only variant, including a higher-downforce front splitter and a revised rear wing. Even more carbon fiber has been used in the car’s Hightech Silver Magno bodywork, which helps to drop the curb weight to just 3086 pounds. That’s pretty impressive when you consider Mercedes-AMG stuck the full suite of motorsports safety equipment into the GT Track Series, including an integrated roll cage, a fire suppression system, and even an extrication hatch in the roof. That all combines to ensure the driver safety cell in the Track Series “meets the latest FIA standards,” Mercedes says.

Mercedes-AMG

The stripped interior looks ready for a proper racer, donning a steering wheel designed in collaboration with Cube Control, as well as a Bosch DDU 11 Driver Display Unit. The bucket seats look incredibly cool, and Mercedes-AMG says they provide higher levels of safety than standard FIA-approved buckets. Here’s hoping no one ever has to test that claim. Mercedes-AMG will only build 55 examples of the GT Track Series, with each example carrying an MSRP of $405,575. Customers will have to deal with Mercedes-AMG directly if they’d like to purchase one, as the Track Series is being sold directly to consumers. That does come with some benefits, as the purchase includes technical training prior to delivery, engineer support for track days or club events, a race weekend support line, and access to a supply of spares. The Mercedes-AMG GT Track Series takes an already ludicrously capable car and turns the knob up to 15. For that reason alone this thing will certainly be remembered as a high point of this era for AMG, even if the owners simply squirrel these things away. I hope that doesn’t happen, because the world deserves to see these special cars flexing their might.

Mercedes-AMG

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