Do you miss the Mercedes-AMG Black Series? Well the good news is the Affalterbach-based manufacturer is working on a sequel and one of our photographers managed to snap it during testing. There are no points for guessing where it was testing, it’s a German performance car. If it hadn’t done more laps of the Nürburgring than Ford’s had recalls, we’d think there was something wrong with it.
Despite the veneer of camouflage, it’s easy to see this coupe is an aggressive, highly track-focused, beast of a vehicle. It seems notably wider than a standard CLE 63, with the fenders flaring out and a larger front air intake. This gives us strong Black Series vibes, and promises a lot when it comes to performance. You don’t put that much effort into aerodynamics if you’re slapping a piddly 1.5 liter 3-cylinder under the hood, This is more than likely getting the 600+ horsepower 4.0-liter flat-plane-crank twin-turbo V8 engine the rumor mill is talking about.
At the back, it’s hard to miss the squared-off quad exhausts. Something it shares with the Mercedes AMG CLE 63, and a further hint that this is a high-end performance vehicle we’re gawping at.
Oh and it has a spoiler large enough to keep a small aircraft in the sky jammed on there as well. So downforce is unlikely to be an issue when putting one of the limited run vehicles through its paces.
Arguably the most shocking thing about this prototype is its headlights. Unlike every other Mercedes test model we’ve snapped this year, it doesn’t appear to have a star design of some kind embedded in there. It is still early days, and this could change. As could the rest of the vehicle, if it’s going to be anywhere near as radical as the other Mercedes Mythos.
What is the Mercedes “Mythos” line?
The camouflaged CLE Coupe is expected to be part of the Mercedes Mythos line, which is fantastic news if you like gawping at specs and images of extremely limited edition models. It’s pretty awful news if you actually want to buy one of these though.
Mercedes debuted the Mythos line back in 2022 with the Mercedes-AMG PureSpeed. The open-top two-seater was capped at 250 units worldwide, and was essentially Mercedes flexing both its performance and ultra-luxury muscle.
It sort of ripped up the design book when it comes to open-top vehicles too. Ditching traditional structures like a windshield, or A pillars, in favor of an F1-style halo. Perhaps annoyingly, the PureSpeed also required its occupants to wear a helmet, though some Mercedes-exclusive ones were provided.
This wasn’t really due to the dangers of rolling the vehicle, that halo design can be pretty strong. But removing the windshield of a vehicle that can go 0-60 in 3.6 seconds and caps out at 196 mph can be a bit catastrophic for the old eyeballs if some other protection isn’t offered.
While the CLE 63 Mythos does have some bold elements, it will need to up its game to match the PureSpeed’s radical styling. But if it does turn out similar to the prototype we snapped, at least you can drive it helmet-free and keep your peepers intact.
There is no confirmed release date for the V8 CLE 63, but rumors suggest it will be unveiled at some point in 2027.
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