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In 1993, this car, the Mercedes Benz C36 AMG became the first official AMG model that you could walk in and buy from a Mercedes dealership. Up until that point, AMG was a specialist, but independent, Mercedes tuner. The C36 was a massive step forward in collaboration that would see the two brands eventually join forces in 2005.
Let's hit the road.
The C36 supported the recipe that AMG still follow today. Take a small car, and cram in the biggest engine that will fit. At the time this car arrived in Australia, 1996, you could actually get a C-Class with a 2.8 litre inline six-cylinder engine. Now, remember, this car is from when The numbers on the back actually meant something, and so the C36 uses the same block as the C280, albeit with bigger bore, new cylinders and crankshaft, making it a 3.6 litre. Hence the 36.
Power is around 210 kilowatts, or 280 horsepower, but it doesn't come on until almost 6,000 RPM. Also high in the rev range is the peak torque band of 385 Newton metres, meaning to get the most out of the little AMG, you really need to drive it. There's no raucous soundtrack either. Just the sound of a big old inline-six working away. It's a cool noise rather than an aggressive one. With that in mind, you can appreciate the C36 is more of a sports tourer than an outright four-door sports car. The AMG rides some 25 mm lower than a standard C-Class and will thump a bit on the bigger bumps, but is surprisingly compliant while touring.
It's good grip too. The 245 mm rear tyres, which were pretty wide for their time, on the iconic 17-inch monoblock hammers, keep the car in check when paring out of even some tight corners like this one. It's still pretty good fun though. The four-speed auto, which is pretty basic by today's standards, still does the job. And while the cabin does feel a little bit empty, there's no screen or anything like that, it's all very easy to use and immediately feels Mercedes-Benz. There's some cool retro stuff too, from the power antenna, the 10 stack CD changer in the boot, the remote headrest folding switch, plus the awesome mono wiper. Of all the things, why did that have to go out of style? It's so cool.
The thing is, 20 years have passed since the C36 arrived, and it doesn't feel particularly old. Nor particularly futuristic for its time. In many ways, it's representative of a lot of cars you can buy today. Looking at the C36 and C63, aside from the numbers on the back swapping positions, they're both very similar in concept. Both are small executive sedans with subtle but effective sports styling. In fact, the new car is just 4% longer and 5% wider, although it weighs an extra 240 kilogrammes thanks to all the modern tech and equipment on board. Three generations apart, sure. But both identifiably Mercedes-Benz.
Now, while the overall format may have stayed the same and obviously the use of technology is increased, there's one area which has changed the character of the sports sedan the most. Power. Just wow. The four-litre twin-turbo V8 under the front of this C63 has 82% more power and torque than the C36. 82% more. For those counting, that's 375 kilowatts or 500 horsepower, and a massive 700 Newton metres available, basically, whenever you want it. Unlike the 36, peak torque is available from just 1750 RPM.
This sort of power was only dreamt about in the 90s. A Lamborghini Diablo with its whopping 5.7 litre V12 had less, and you had a picture of that on your wall. It's much more sports-focused than the C36. The ride is firmer, the seats are firmer and you know there's a million lines of code from the series of computers beneath the car, making everything work as effectively and efficiently as possible. You can really push this thing to the limit with a big smile on your face. But when you've had enough, just slow down, drop it back to comfort, and just putt putt around. The best bit, the C63 costs exactly the same as the C36 did at launch 20 years ago.
The 90s might not have been the cultural cool of previous decades, but it was a great time to lay down the framework for the years that would follow. Just think of how far we've come in terms of accessible and usable performance in just the last 20 years. In fact, what Mercedes and AMG have done by creating supercar performance in what is a regular sedan is nothing short of extraordinary. And given they're working on a hypercar using electrification and no doubt other forms of automotive magic, I can't wait to see what the next 20 years are going to bring.
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