Please buy this Japanese-spec AMG S-Class so we don't

By topgear, 28 January 2020

Japan loves its AMG Mercs, so much so that back in the day, the then-independent tuning company set up a Japanese subsidiary, where it modified factory-fresh Mercedes straight off the boat from Germany solely for the Japanese market.

This thing was one such car. It left the factory in Sindelfingen a standard 560SEL and was delivered directly to AMG in Japan, where it was transformed into the magnificent object seen here.

AMG then equipped it with many excellent things, such as a hand-built 6.0-litre V8 making 375bhp (that’s 90bhp more than standard), a menacing body-kit, three-piece split-rim wheels, a fantastically Eighties steering wheel and a speedometer that goes up to 300km/h.

(Click HERE to read our Mercedes-AMG S 63 4Matic+ review)

It’s thought that fewer than 200 560SELs like this were built. This one lived in Japan until quite recently, where it was serviced without fail every two years and maintained regardless of cost. Servicing carried out between 2009 and 2013 cost a whopping €14,000.

Imported to Switzerland by the current owner and seller, like the Alpina we showed you the other day, this 560 is part of the RM Auctions ‘Yountimer’ collection. The 144-car collection of modern classics belong (or belonged – much of the collection was sold last year) to a single owner, who’s selling to free-up space in his warehouse(s) for more stuff.

The 560 is expected to fetch between €100,000 and €140,000 when it goes up for auction in Paris early next month. We so, so would. Even though you can bag yourself a Japanese-spec AMG’d S-Class for far less…

STORY Tom Harrison

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