There aren't many AMG Hammers in the world, yet too many people seem to think the name applies to lots of fast 80s Mercs.
It's easy for the internet to exaggerate facts and spin them unknowingly into false information. In fact, it was thanks to a fellow classmate in my Automotive Journalism course, that dreadfully wrong facts surrounding the Midnight Club were taken down off popular corners of the internet.
But it seems once people are fed information these days - particularly through social media - too often, the inaccurate becomes the consensus. Things are no different to AMG's illusive W124-based beast, known as the 'Hammer'.
Rather frustratingly, too many people seem have got it into their heads that any classic AMG car with wide arches is a Hammer. But let's remind ourselves of what actually constituted that name.
For starters, it only applied to about 30 cars - 13 of which left the North American facility and a couple of those cars were tested in American media, including Car & Driver - who famously called it the AMG Hammer (it was never called that from factory) and got the 6.0 litre version up to 186mph in a straight-line run.
Additionally, you could also choose not to have the full-blown 6.0 litre engine and hold back with a 5.5 litre. But the specific upgrades made are key.
A Road & Track issue from the late 80s very kindly laid out what the 6.0 litre Hammer included in its $122,000 asking price (not including the price of the donor car):
- Before upgrades begin, you had to bring a U.S specification 300E.
- 5.5 litre engine from a Mercedes 560 model: $17,000.
- Modification to dual overhead cam 6.0 litre spec: $39,950.
- Hammer conversion package, which includes: W126 rear differential with Gleason-Torsen limited slip, heavy duty rear subframe: $33,202.
- AMG suspension kit: $1,495.
- AMG wheels with Pirelli P700 tyres: $5,050.
- AMG body kit: $4,125.
- Installation of parts and paint: $3,500.
- Labour: $18,000..
So, as you can see. It was a fairly expensive list of upgrades fitted to your executive Mercedes. But once it was completed, you had a car which could outrun almost anything in its day - even the Ferrari Testarossa.
But the fact is, a true 'Hammer' only applies to that small batch of cars that left the U.S workshop. The cars built to that specification had to have the heavy duty rear subframe and W126 Gleason-Torsen limited slip diff. Those without were not Hammers as the Hammer conversion pack was designed to sustain the added power and torque.
Hopefully, more people will be more accurate. Because the amount of people believing that any wide-arch Merc is a Hammer is too high.
Images; Mercedes Benz Media