From little acorns, giant oaks do grow. Such a saying could aptly describe the origins of AMG, the now iconic performance arm of Mercedes-Benz, though you could hardly refer to the car featured here as a little acorn.
AMG’s relationship with Mercedes-Benz can be traced back as far as the early 1970s when German engineers Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher found a way to put a hefty 6.8L V8 into a race prepared Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL.
This relationship deepened when Mercedes-Benz entered DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft) racing during the 1980s and by the end of the decade, AMG was at the forefront of representing Mercedes-Benz in the championship.
Jump forward a few years and the covers came off the first ever Mercedes production car built in collaboration with AMG at the 1993 Frankfurt Motor Show. The template for this new joint venture, one which would lay those crucial foundations for a legend, was the W202 Mercedes C-Class.
The Olivier Boulay designed W202 C-Class first saw the light of day the previous year as a replacement for the W201 190E saloon. Available with varying power units and levels of performance, Mercedes-Benz would send their C280 variant to AMG where the boffins at Affalterbach would give the W202 a thorough overhaul of engine, transmission, brakes and suspension. The result was the C36 AMG, a direct rival for the likes of BMW’s E36 M3.
For the C36, AMG took Mercedes-Benz’s M104 E 28 2.8L straight six, enlarged the bore and stroke, installed a new crankshaft, enlarged the cylinder head, fitted a new free-flow exhaust system and revamped the BOSCH engine management system. The result was the AMG tuned M104 E 36 3.6L straight six producing 201kW of power.
Ample power by today’s standards, but it meant the C36 was certainly no slouch in the nineties. Its still not much of a slouch today to be honest, with a zero to 100kph time of 5.8 seconds and an electronically limited top speed of 255kph.
To handle the extra grunt, AMG took a stronger differential from the equivalent E-Class and the suspension consisted of double wishbones at the front and multi-link set up at the back. Bigger brakes from the SL600 and W124 E-Class were added, the ride height was dropped slightly; also thicker and stiffer shocks and anti-roll bars were fitted to sharpen the W202’s handling.
These cars are starting to become rather collectable and relatively hard to find in condition such as what you see here. So, when Andrew Farrow from Eyrewell Forest Motor Company got in touch and offered me the chance to have a play with modern Mercedes-Benz classic, naturally I was there like a shot.
While we often associate AMG with carbon fibre splitters, gaping air intakes and dramatic stylistic add-ons, the C36 is quite the subtle design, with only things like the 17-inch-deep dish AMG alloys, a dual sports exhaust, and a discreet performance front lip with integrated fog lights, side and rear skirts.
Those Olivier Boulay penned lines epitomise what many regard as the twilight of a golden era for Mercedes-Benz. It’s a solid, no-nonsense package with immense and an almost sinister presence. Kind of like Stamper, Gotz Otto’s Bond villain henchman in “Tomorrow Never Dies.” Give it a watch and you will see what I mean.
Inside it’s a cascade of faux-carbon and leather. Hop in and you sink slightly into those delightfully comfortable leather seats. I also quite like the ruche leather on inside of the four doors. The centre console consists of that carbon panelling and everything you touch to operate the climate control, heated seats, electric windows and other features still feel solid and well-engineered, sporting the same satisfying clicking sensation with every press.
Tucked away behind an AMG embossed centre console panel like a considerably large ash tray and cigarette lighter. A stark reminder people’s attitudes towards smoking in a car, while beginning to change during the 90s, was still prevalent in mainstream car production. Ahead of you sits a distinct AMG instrument cluster with a 280kph speedometer and a redline of 6400rpm. It’s a classic white-on-black cluster and is extremely legible
That 3.6L straight six is silky smooth and on start-up, you get that distinctive six-pot soundtrack announcing its presence with a brief blip before settling into a subtle burble. Shut the driver’s door and it closes with a distinctly “thunk” giving you clear indication of just how rock solid the original production AMG is.
The ratios for the four-speed automatic transmission are rather long, build up the power and while it requires a firm right foot, it certainly isn’t hard to wind it out and let the full oomph of the M104 E 36 take hold.
Building up the revs to north of 5500rpm and those wide ratios, coupled with a meaty torque curve allow for the C36 to surge forward, not rapidly so but certainly brisk enough for most of us. It isn’t hard to imagine, that given an open stretch of derestricted motorway, like an autobahn for instance, the C36 would be a quick ground coverer.
Steering is direct and despite sitting on the road rather low slung, the ride is not as jarring as you might think. In fact, rather comfortable would be a more apt description.
While I didn’t get the chance to push hard around some tight sections of tarmac, the twisty sections I did experience were dealt with considerable ease, the C36 tracking true and staying planted. One would have no qualms with doing a run to Arrowtown or Ayrburn and back in this.
The C36 remained in production from 1994 to 1997 whereupon it was succeeded by the V8 powered C43. While flying somewhat under the radar compared with other German performance cars of the era, one cannot deny the impact this car has had on being the one that started the production AMG saga.
Being solid, durable, great to look at and rather brisk and entertaining to drive, these are just many reasons why the Mercedes-Benz C36 AMG is well worthy of classic status. Also, with the likes of other performance Mercedes Benz such as the W201 190E 2.5-16 Cosworth going up considerably in value, it is looking likely the OG AMG will follow this trend in years to come.
Thank you Andrew for letting me have a steer. If you want to know more about which other classics of the past and future Andrew has in stock, visit the Eyrewell Forest Motor Company Website.
