New Mercedes-AMG Black Series: Spy Video

Mercedes-AMG has been teasing a new Black Series model for a while, but so far we’ve only seen a handful of photos from the Nürburgring. Now, a fresh spy video now shows the hardcore coupe out on public roads, complete with the mandatory license plate. It makes you wonder how something that looks this radical can be legally driven on the street.

It’s not just the wild aerodynamic body kit, with its pop-out fender vents, that makes it stand out. The upcoming high-performance coupe appears to wear some of the widest tires ever fitted to a production car. With 325-mm front and 355-mm rear Michelin Pilot Cup 2 R rubber wrapped around those center-lock wheels, it’s no surprise AMG calls it the “most extreme Black Series ever.”

It seems to ditch the rear window, though visibility would be minimal anyway given the massive rear wing. The prominent rear diffuser looks as if it was lifted straight from the new GT3 race car, for which the Black Series serves as a homologation special. Unlike other AMG GT versions currently on sale, it features a side-exit exhaust for a V8 engine believed to use a flat-plane crankshaft.

Seeing the new Black Series at the Nürburgring makes us wonder whether Mercedes-AMG will eventually attempt a hot lap. It already holds the record for the fastest production car with the One hypercar, which clocked a 6:29. Then again, it wouldn’t feel quite right for the F1-engined machine to be dethroned by a significantly cheaper vehicle.

Although the battle is heating up between the Ford Mustang GTD and Chevy Corvette ZR1X, the AMG One likely has little to worry about in its “Lord of the ’Ring” status. Still, more competition is on the way, as a new Porsche 911 GT2 RS could debut as early as this year. It could beat the American duo and even get dangerously close to its domestic rival.

Nürburgring lap times aside, the next Black Series looks absolutely bonkers and goes like stink around the famous track. It’s not the only GT3 race car with a license plate on the horizon. Toyota has already introduced the new GR GT, also packing a brawny V8. Japan’s new supercar delivers more than 641 horsepower from a hybrid 4.0-liter twin-turbo engine, but expect the Germans to outmuscle it, considering the previous Black Series had 720 hp. The new GT2 RS will likely join the 700+ hp club as well.

Motor1’s Take: A new Black Series arriving relatively soon after the last one is a welcome surprise from AMG. The four-cylinder C63 signaled an era of electrification and downsizing, but that didn’t quite go to plan, so Affalterbach appears to be returning to a large-displacement combustion engine for a car that will likely share little with the standard AMG GT. The rumored Mythos CLE special edition is likely to have big power from a V8 engine.

Mercedes has been criticized for turning the GT into a coupe-ified SL, but the next Black Series should address those concerns. It’s expected to be significantly lighter, shedding its grand-touring underpinnings and reverting to a full-fledged performance coupe.