A Mercedes C 43 AMG, which is the first Mercedes built entirely by the AMG sports division is for sale at the annual Amelia Island auction organized by auction house Gooding & Company.
Photo: Gooding & Company
You probably think that’s a mistake because, before the C 43 AMG, there was the Mercedes C 36 AMG built from 1993 to 1997 based on the first generation Mercedes C-Class W202. However, the C 36 AMG was not a true AMG model. AMG bought a ready-to-sell C 280 from Mercedes and then disassembled and modified it in the AMG factory.
In 1998, Daimler-Benz acquired AMG and Mercedes decided to design a successor to the C 36 AMG based on the same generation W202. Thus, at the end of 1997, Mercedes unveiled the new C-Class flagship, which was called the C 43 AMG.
The 3.6-liter 6-cylinder which develops 280 PS/385 Nm from the C 36 AMG was replaced by the 4.3-liter M113 V8 from the W210 E 430. After modifications, it developed 306 PS and 410 Nm, with power being transmitted to the rear wheels via a 5-speed automatic transmission.
The Mercedes C 43 AMG was a direct competitor to the BMW M3, which had a 286 PS naturally aspirated inline six-cylinder, and the Audi S4, which had a 265 PS twin-turbo V6. While the BMW and Mercedes transmitted power to the rear wheels only, the Audi S4 had Quattro all-wheel drive.
A Mercedes C 43 AMG is offered at the Amelia Island auction organized by Gooding & Company. The estimated selling price is between $60,000 and $80,000, which is quite low, as the model has a large dose of exclusivity. Perhaps the lower price is due to the fact that the car has over 111,000 km on board.
Between October 1997 through May 2000, only 3,085 examples of the sedan version were produced, and the station wagon is even rarer, with only 727 examples produced. Very few examples made it to America, with some sources stating that only 25 units of C 43 of the model year 2000 were imported to the US.
This is also the case for the model offered at the Amelia Island auction which was ordered in December 1998 and delivered on February 3, 1999. The company organizing the auction says that it might be the only example painted in the special color Lapis Blue (code 945U) nonmetallic. Other features of the car include exclusive Graphite/Anthracite AMG (code 581A) leather upholstery and a long list of factory options that befit a high-end Mercedes-Benz AMG performer.
The car was registered in Germany until recently, is in a very good state of preservation, and comes with a Mercedes-Benz factory data card, and AMG Classic Conversion Certificate.
The Amelia Island auction organized by Gooding & Company will take place on March 6, 2025.