Mercedes boss promises next AMG GT Black Series will be ‘insane’
The AMG GT is getting the Black Series treatment in an attempt to become the king of sports cars, with V8 power and wild aero.
Mercedes-AMG is soon launching the new GT Black Series, and the car giant’s boss is making some bold claims about its capabilities.
First teased in March, the GT Black Series has already been billed as the most extreme from the skunkworks division yet, with Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius telling Autocar it is as a result of allowing AMG’s engineers “to go crazy”.
“Sometimes you must allow the engineers to go crazy, and the next car like that is in the making,” Källenius said.
“The next AMG Black Series will be insane, and it will be something completely different that nobody expects. And I can guarantee that [your] readers will love it. You have my personal guarantee.”
"I know I'm talking to a constituency that knows what they're talking about, and I have full confidence we won't disappoint."
The AMG GT Black Series will serve as the upon which the new AMG GT3 race vehicle will be homologated, and do battle with the likes of the Porsche 911, Ford Mustang GTD and the upcoming Toyota GR GT in showrooms as well as on the track.
AMG is still running the first-generation GT in its GT3 racing program, powered by a naturally aspirated 6.2-litre V8. This engine was never available in the first-gen GT road car, which instead had a twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 heart.
It’s expected the new GT Black Series will finally move to a twin-turbo V8 engine, with Mercedes-Benz recently launching the M177 Evo, an updated version of the 4.0-litre, now with a flat-plane crankshaft.
Jordan Mulach
Speaking with US publication MotorTrend in May, Källenius said the M177 Evo will be offered in three distinct guises: “the Mercedes-Benz [version], the AMG [version], and the ‘go crazy’ AMG [version].”
Given the AMG version of the engine is understood to be powering the upcoming CLE-based ‘Mythos’ series vehicle, it is widely expected the “go crazy” version of the V8 will work its way into the upcoming AMG GT Black Series.
While the previous-generation AMG GT Black Series held the title as the fastest production car around the Nürburgring Nordschleife (with its 6:48.047 lap set in 2020), it was dethroned by the 991-gen Porsche 911 GT2 RS in 2021 (6:43.300), and was pushed further down the order by the 992.2 GT3 RS last year (6:45.389).
It’s expected that Mercedes-AMG will take another crack at the top spot in the sports car rankings when the GT Black Series launches, though it’s unlikely to challenge the brand’s AMG One, with the F1-engined hypercar holding the outright road car record, lapping the circuit in 6:29.090.
