Obviously, the Hammer is not exactly your mass-produced Merc. It's a selectively equipped 300E impeccably turned out by AMG, the German tuning firm specializing in those other cars from Stuttgart. For those of you who don't know, AMG is to Mercedes what Alpina is to BMW, Ruf to Porsche, Treser to Audi. The firm was founded in 1967 by Hans-Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher, two former Daimler-Benz engineers, and its name comes from the initials of their last names and of Grossapach, Aufrecht's birthplace. AMG supplies a full line of show-and-go components to followers of the 3-pointed star who seek to enhance the appearance, handling and performance of their Mercs. It also sells complete cars including an extensively modified 300E known as the Hammer, its most outrageous model.
AMG HAMMER A Mercedes 4-door that runs like a Ferrari Testarossa?Road & Track, August, 1987

I was tingling with anticipatory thrill when we broke out of the city traffic in a car with a claimed top speed of over 180mph and standing kilometer time of 23sec, which puts it right next to the Ferrari GTO in performance. It was an AMG-Mercedes-Benz W124 series sedan with a very modified 5.6liter V8, modified front and rear spoilers and side skirts. My AMG loaner was almost identical to the AMG-MB "Hammer" which caused a stir at the last Frankfurt auto show with a claimed top speed of 187mph, and which soon will be available in the US, its powers only slightly diminished by compliance with US regulations.
The difference between my car and "der Hammer" was aerodynamic ducting behind the radiator grille and underbody enclosure that lowered drag 0.04 from the shape which is already an astoundingly clean Cd of .29 in its narrowest-tired version. My car's powertrain was the same as the Hammer's, with AMG quad-valve heads, special cams, pistons, valves and other new innards for a power increase to 360bhp over the 300bhp of the factory two-valve 5.6 V8.
Hammerin' Down the Road: The road's the autobahn, the Hammer's the ultimate AMG Benz 300 and the speed's whatever you want it to be, by David Barry AutoWeek, June 23, 1986

When AMG built the Hammer, word spread like wildfire.
Car and Driver - "The Hammer covers ground so quickly that you swear you can feel the earth's curvature racing to meet you. Yet...this AMG-modified sedan keeps you completely at ease as you pierce the atmosphere like a horizontal bolt of lightning. All that's lacking is the stench of scorched sulphur from the shocked aftermath of your receding thunder...For all its power, the Hammer applies its blows superbly...The chassis absorbs the road's upsets with none of its own...The driver's job is to hew to the one true line and to look way ahead, because that's where the car will be in a flash..."
Road & Track Exotic Cars - "In corners, the car tracks tightly and clings to the line effectively, giving the driver a great feeling of confidence...As good as the handling is, what makes the Hammer something that will remind you of the old folk song about John Henry is the 6.0-liter V-8 engine...This is a car that moves off from rest with a smoothness that's hard to believe. And it just keeps accelerating, on and on..."
Auto Gallery - "The Hammer is a marvellous amalgam of traditional Mercedes-Benz values and jaw-clenching performance...Its urban road manners are impeccable...At the limit, almost 100 yards of road are covered every second, and the meaning of tunnel vision becomes all too obvious...Caveats aside, the Hammer is beautifully designed to provide the skilled driver with an experience virtually unequalled by any production car..."
Stuffed with AMG's most powerful and free-revving engine and its most sophisticated chassis tuning, the Hammer becomes a Supercar in the truest sense. The wildest, highest-performance exotic cars cannot compare. When it comes to putting the road in its place, they cannot touch the AMG Hammer because it makes speed without strain and makes time without stress. Remarkable though they may be, they are no more than nails for the Hammer when it comes to pounding the landscape flat.
No other practical four-passenger car can provide you the AMG Hammer's unprecedented performance. Its abilities go beyond wishes into what most can only consider dreams: 0 to 60 in 5.0 seconds; the quarter-mile in 13.5 seconds at 107 mph; the fastest 30-to-50 and 50-to-70 times ever recorded by Car and Driver; and a top speed of 186 mph.
The Hammer begins with a U.S. specification Mercedes 300E, stripped of all powertrain and running gear. The six-cylinder engine gives way to the 5.6-liter V-8 built for the larger 560s. Disassembled, ported, polished, balanced, and blueprinted - and optionally bored out to 6.0 liters - and fitted with the amazing 32-valve secret to its success: AMG-designed double overhead camshafts and four-valve-per-cylinder heads. Dual German high-performance catalytic convertors promote free exhaust flow. To handle the resulting 360 horsepower and 377 pound-feet of torque (375 horsepower and 407 pound-feet of torque for the 6.0 liter version), AMG revalves the four-speed automatic from the large Mercedes S-Class machines.
AMG replaces the rear subframe with a beefier one and fits the biggest M-B differential. A Gleason-Torsen (Torque Sensing) unit replaces the original M-B carrier, sensing which wheel can safely handle power under adverse conditions that may cause a lesser car to spin its wheels or itself.
A special AMG suspension employs shorter springs, firmer shock absorbers, 8.0-by-17-inch alloy wheels, and Pirelli P700 tires: 215/45VR-17 front, 235/45VR-17 rear. Keeping frontal area slim and low cuts wind resistance to a minimal 0.25 Cd with a front air dam and side skirts, and a ducktail blended into the deck. AMG's chassis and brake tuning dovetail with the engine and aerodynamics. The Hammer grips the road tenaciously, producing 0.85-g roadholding and stops from 70 mph in a breathtaking 165 feet.
The AMG Hammer, despite its singular ability to pace the sun racing the horizon, is also alone in its ability to bear you and yours in imperturbable luxury and safety at such a resounding rate. The Hammer is tomorrow's supreme traveling tool, yet it already makes the quickest possible work of every challenge on the way today.
The World's Fastest Sedan: AMG Advertising Brochure

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Dean Albrecht
"Lead, follow, or better yet, get out of the way!"E500 owners motto