Lot Ended
Description
Ultra-rare
6.3 V12 AMG with 444bhp; believed to be one of only around 26 made; two owners
from new; advisory-free MOT; a unicorn Merc at a Shetland pony guide
price
Mercedes has long been a towering giant among car
manufacturers, with vast reserves of cash and engineering expertise that dwarfed
the resources of most other makes. To keep ahead of the pack, they would
always have an exotic flagship model to showcase just what could be achieved
when the gloves were off and budgets were unlimited.
In the
late-1990s that model was the C215 Coupe, a rolling laboratory of exotic
materials and high-tech driver aids, some of which might trickle down to more
mainstream models several years later, and some of which were just too expensive
to replicate at scale. At the top of the tree sat the CL600 V12, a silent giant
in a Savile Row suit which had a base price of around £85,000 but could easily
cost up to £100,000 if every option box was ticked (equivalent to around
£225,000 today).
Owing to its complex construction, a heady mix of
aluminium, magnesium, thermo plastics and high-strength steel, the C215 Coupe
was virtually hand-built on its own dedicated production line at Sindelfingen.
It bristled with world first technologies like Active Body Control hydraulic
suspension, Distronic radar cruise control, bi-xenon headlamps. and cast
magnesium frames for the lightweight aluminium doors.
However, lurking
in the background was an even more extravagant machine, the CL63 AMG which
was so exclusive that it didn’t officially exist. Based on the ‘standard’ CL600,
it was produced for one month only, November 2001, and could only be ordered
from AMG themselves.
While it shared the same naturally-aspirated M137
V12 engine as the CL600, in the CL63 it was bored out from 5.8 to 6.3 litres
which upped the power from 362bhp and 530Nm to a whopping 444bhp and 620Nm.
Mated to 5G-Tronic transmission, it dropped the 0-60mph time from 6.3 seconds to
4.8 seconds although the top speed was still limited to 155mph. At around
£188,000, the AMG version cost over twice as much as the ‘cooking’ CL600 model,
this being equivalent to over £400,000 in today’s money.
Only made
available to select Mercedes clients in Europe, Asia and the Middle East
(America was excluded), the CL63 does not appear in the official production
statistics so it is hard to say exactly how many were made. Most sources state
that it was 26, although some claim that it might have run into the low-40s,
making it among the rarest production Mercs ever made. Whoever you choose to
believe, it is definitively a ‘unicorn’ model and you hardly ever see them for
sale today.
This particular CL63 AMG sadly comes with no history so we
can’t tell you much about it. The V5C shows that it was first UK registered in
March 2002 and the original owner was a Greek shipping magnate, Captain Leon
Samonas, who lived at an exclusive address in Highgate, London. HPI records that
he put a private plate on the car, V12 LDS.
In September 2004 it was
acquired by a Mr G Leslie of York who seems to have used the car extensively,
the MOT history online showing the mileage rising from 24,033 in January 2006 to
121,381 in February 2011. That equates to around 20,000 miles per year so one
imagines that he would have kept it well serviced.
Our vendor acquired the car in
June 2016 and has kept it tucked away in a secure warehouse as part of his
private collection ever since. He has never put the car into his own name so the
V5C still records just one former keeper.
In January this year the car
was lightly recommissioned and put through an MOT which it passed with no
advisories, the mileage at this point being 126,170, and it has only covered 24
miles since then.
As you can see in the photos, this CL63 looks to be in
very good condition for its year/mileage and has been starting instantly and
driving nicely on site, with bags of grunt from the mighty AMG V12 engine. Given
the prolonged period it has spent in storage, a precautionary check-over and a
thorough service would be advisable before any long journeys are
undertaken.
We have never seen one of these uber-Coupes before and it is
hard to find out much about them, even using the wizardry of AI. A proper
‘unicorn’, it is on offer here at a Shetland pony guide price and would make a
worthy addition to any discerning Mercedes collection.
Consigned by James Dennison – 07970 309907
– james.dennison@brightwells.com