Mercedes-AMG GT R is dead for 2021, report says
The "Beast from the Green Hell" is getting killed off, and the much more expensive Black Series will reign over the AMG GT range.
Goodnight, sweet prince.
It's hard not to love the Mercedes-AMG GT and all its many variants. It's got a stellar V8 that provides silly amounts of power and one of the best soundtracks in motoring, and it's a handsome car to boot. Unfortunately, the AMG GT family tree is about to get a little thinner.
According to a report published Wednesday by MotorAuthority, Mercedes plans to kill off the formerly top-of-the-food-chain GT R model, at least here in the US. The "Beast from the Green Hell" and its zany matte metallic green paint are going the way of the dodo bird, and while that's a bummer, it's not all bad news.
See, the top of the AMG GT ladder is getting replaced by the AMG GT Black Series, which looks even crazier and should be even more of a performance powerhouse than the GT R was. Part of that comes from a new flat-plane crankshaft, which, thanks to the lighter weight, helps the horsepower climb to a bananas 720 and make the 4.0-liter Biturbo rev more quickly.
The trade-off for all that performance is substantial, though. The AMG GT R wasn't cheap by any means -- it retailed for around $160,000 -- but the Black Series will cost double that. That's Lamborghini , Ferrari or McLaren money. The saving grace of all this is that the base model AMG GT will get more power and torque, finally nosing over the 500-horsepower mark with a total of 523 hp and 494 pound-feet of torque.
Mercedes-AMG didn't immediately respond to Roadshow's request for comment.
