The C63 is back... sort of: this is the new Merc-AMG CLE 646, a RWD V8 super coupe

The C63 is back. With a twin turbo V8. And a few caveats. Quite a few caveats in fact. Not least that only 30 are being made, it’s already sold out and it’s got the daftest name this side of Sindelfingen.

Meet the Mercedes-AMG CLE 646 Spezialanfertigung. No Germany, your language isn’t as pretty as Italian, and yes that is genuinely its name. Why not Black Series you might be wondering? That’s a good name, a name with proper Merc meaning and resonance. We’re wondering too.

The CLE 646 (I’m only writing Spezialanfertigung for comedic effect from now on) is the second model in Merc’s Mythos range, cars aimed specifically at collectors. The first was the PureSpeed, a roofless, windscreen-less, 585bhp, £800k SL announced two years ago. 250 were made. Tough sell, you’d have thought - a cut price Ferrari Monza with all the same compromises but a lot less glamour.

This one, despite the name, should fly out the doors. This is the AMG template we’ve been wanting for years: twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 with 646bhp and 622lb ft, all fed to the rear wheels alone. Based on a CLE 53, it’s strengthened, widened, lowered, and given a full motorsport makeover. Think Ford’s Mustang GTD. And yet only 30 are being made. The price hasn’t been - and probably won’t be - announced.

Those are the headlines, but let’s get into the detail of it. The V8 is Merc’s latest M177 Evo ‘hot-vee’ motor with flat plane crank. It probably won’t sound as lumpy and throaty as you might hope, but it will sound a lot better than a four cylinder plug-in hybrid.

The transmission is the nine-speed MCT multi-clutch, and there’s an e-diff to apportion torque to each rear wheel. Because it’s not 4WD, it’s not that fast off the line. 0-62mph takes 3.9secs, 0-124mph takes 11.4secs (for comparison a Mustang GTD is around 3.5 and 10.0secs). Top speed is 193mph.

Mercedes claims to have taken out 170kg of weight, but this is still a 1,895kg car - lighter than the Mustang, but over 400kg heavier than a stock Porsche 911 GT3. Those, whether AMG admits it or not, are the Speciousfartygang’s most direct rivals.

Like them, this is a track-focused machine. The coilover suspension has been done in partnership with KW, and includes four-way adjustable dampers. There are ceramic brakes with 420mm front discs gripped by six piston calipers, it rides 22mm lower at the front, 16mm at the rear, and the bodywork has been… enhanced.

A regular CLE coupe is 1,861mm wide. The AMG CLE 53 has packed out arches for 1,935mm. Here another 52mm has been added. The majority of the bodywork, including the bonnet, bootlid, sills, roof and front wings, is now carbon fibre. Those front arches contain enormous 305/30 ZR20 tyres. the rears are 335s. There are vents to swallow and extract air, both front splitter and rear wing are adjustable and the rear glasshouse is polycarbonate.

Inside there’s a roll cage, racing buckets, nine stage traction control and carbon door panels. Into the bin have gone the rear seats, sound deadening and parking sensors. Watch that carbon when reversing. The infotainment and assistance systems have been reduced - no word yet if this includes the ditching of lane keep and speed limit warnings.

But overall the modifications don’t seem as extreme and considered as those Ford inflicted on a Mustang when it created the GTD in partnership with Multimatic. That included an entirely new rear subframe, the gearbox moving to the back of the car and in-board suspension. Ford was very serious about giving the GT3 RS a hard time.

Mercedes is more circumspect. It is a track car, but isn’t as extreme as the AMG GT Black Series. let alone the GTD or GT3 RS. As a result it feels like a car without a particular aim or role, other than to be a muscular, thunderous road rocket. Nothing wrong with that - it’s what a Black Series has always been. So why not build a few more and call it a Black Series? From where we’re standing it seems like a missed opportunity.

As yet we haven’t been able to put any questions to someone at Mercedes to tell us what’s going on, why this isn’t a Black Series, how the hell they got a V8 in the CLE, why so few are being made and what, if anything, it means for future AMG production models. We’ll do that very soon. And also drive it, which hopefully will throw some more light on it.

All we can deduce at the moment is that AMG has the capacity to give us what we want, but is either being very mean or has its hands tied by emissions legislation. Either way, we’re off to have a good look at second hand C63 Coupes.