AMG named this car the Hammer (which has exactly the same spelling and meaning in German) because of the brutal engine it received under its hood, whose power delivery was akin to being hit in the back by a blunt instrument. The then-independent tuner took 300E and 300CE models, removed the factory straight-six, and replaced it with its own version of the Mercedes-Benz 5.6-liter V6 that powered the W126 560 SEC model.
Its displacement was increased to 6 liters and power went up from 238 horsepower in the 5.6-liter to around 365 horsepower in the AMG version. Torque went up too, from 287 pound-feet (389 Nm) to 398 pound-feet (540 Nm), and all this newfound oomph could push the Hammer from a standstill to 60 mph in exactly 5 seconds.
That was a remarkable acceleration number for a big sedan in the late 1980s, and its top speed was also outstanding for the time: 178 mph (286 km/h). The Hammer was also a drag strip star. With a quarter-mile time of 13.5 seconds and a trap speed of 107 mph (172 km/h), it gave many dedicated sports cars and muscle cars a run for their money.
