Auction at the mb market, any info on that car?
VIN = WDB1240301A364283
Datacard: https://www.lastvin.com/vin/MjxRadXBVN12eoXrm
VIN = WDB1240301A364283
Datacard: https://www.lastvin.com/vin/MjxRadXBVN12eoXrm
1987 Mercedes-Benz 6.0 AMG Hammer w/29k Miles
Barry Taylor Imported Example Featuring Suede-Trimmed Front & Rear Recaros, Low Mileage, & Mellon Family History
This 1987 Mercedes-Benz 6.0 AMG Hammer Sedan started life as a 300E ordered through the Stuttgart Branch and presumably built by AMG Germany where it was then mechanically and cosmetically enhanced by the Affalterbach tuning and racing house early in its life. Barry Taylor of Beverly Hills Motoring Accessories (AMG West) was the one to import this Hammer in 1991 for Seward Prosser Mellon out of Pennsylvania with a matching plaque shown. The current owner of this AMG Hammer located and purchased this Hammer sedan out of a local San Francisco collector’s estate approximately five years ago and has since been mechanically restoring the car with such services as ignition, fuel system overhaul, fuel injectors, air bypass lines, EHA valve, new tires, suspension refresh, steering refresh and much more.
Finished in Black Pearl Metallic (199) over Gray Suede and Leather interior, power is provided by an AMG-modified 6.0-liter DOHC 32-valve M117 V8 engine paired to a re-valved four-speed automatic transmission from a W126. Other AMG modifications include a full AMG aero body kit, Gray Suede Recaro Bucket Seats front (heated) and rear, a Momo M38 AMG steering wheel, 17” AMG Aero I wheels, AMG shocks, reinforced rear subframe, ducktail spoiler, Sebring AMG exhaust, and much more. The odometer shows only 29,423 original miles and this AMG Hammer is being offered on behalf of the seller [<-- do they mean on behalf of the owner? -Ed.] with detailed recent service records, a pair of spare AMG heads, three keys, a Barry Taylor importation sheet, tool kit, fire extinguisher, manufacturer’s literature, in-period magazine articles, spare wheel, fitted car cover, a spare Concord CX70 head unit, and a clean California title in the owner’s name.
Finished in Black Pearl Metallic (199) over Gray Suede and Leather interior, power is provided by an AMG-modified 6.0-liter DOHC 32-valve M117 V8 engine paired to a re-valved four-speed automatic transmission from a W126. Other AMG modifications include a full AMG aero body kit, Gray Suede Recaro Bucket Seats front (heated) and rear, a Momo M38 AMG steering wheel, 17” AMG Aero I wheels, AMG shocks, reinforced rear subframe, ducktail spoiler, Sebring AMG exhaust, and much more. The odometer shows only 29,423 original miles and this AMG Hammer is being offered on behalf of the seller [<-- do they mean on behalf of the owner? -Ed.] with detailed recent service records, a pair of spare AMG heads, three keys, a Barry Taylor importation sheet, tool kit, fire extinguisher, manufacturer’s literature, in-period magazine articles, spare wheel, fitted car cover, a spare Concord CX70 head unit, and a clean California title in the owner’s name.
The body is finished in Black Pearl “aka Blue-Black” Metallic (199) with matching lower cladding, a power retractable/tilt sunroof, paint-matched headlight wipers, a paint-matched monowiper, heat rejecting glass, central locking, and Euro-spec glass headlights. The period-installed AMG body kit features a sculpted front bumper with fog lights, a rear ducktail spoiler, sculpted rear bumper, extended side skirts, and dual polished AMG exhaust outlets. Paint meter readings are included in the gallery and indicate a repaint under prior ownership. Monochromatic trim is seen on the grill, bumpers, and door handles, and this Hammer features a hood ornament delete. Euro amber corner lenses are installed and the glass shows all original.
Original 17” AMG Aero I wheels are finished with Black Pearl Metallic (199) painted faces, machined lips, and are complete with original AMG flat center caps. Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires show 2025 date codes up front and 2020 for the rears. The tires measure 215/45 and 235/45 respectively which are the correct sizes per AMG specifications for the Hammer. The current owner removed tires with 1991 date codes when he purchased the car in 2020. AMG-branded shocks are fitted underneath along with a period-correct Sebring exhaust made specifically for the W124 AMG. The owner notes that the rear muffler is from a M104 AMG car that he retrofitted to make work for this Hammer. The stampings in the exhaust are shown and detailed underside photos. Braking is handled with dual-piston rear brake calipers from a S124 and the fronts have larger ATE BMW E32 7-Series brakes. The current owner performed a brake fluid service, replaced the front driver tie rod, and replaced worn suspension items as needed. No suspension knocks or clunks are noted when driving. The rear subframe on a Hammer has been reinforced by AMG as they use W126 running gear fused to the five-link independent rear suspension. A 560SEL differential replaces the stock W124 with W126 flex discs. The underside photos show the aforementioned strengthening and reinforcement.
The interior is finished in Gray Suede with Recaro bucket seats in both the front and rear, Gray Suede door inserts on all four doors, an AMG M38 leather wrapped steering wheel, gray carpets and wool floor mats. Burl walnut wood accents the center console, dashboard, glovebox, and optional extended wood on the door cards. Amenities include automatic climate control, cruise control, electrically adjustable heated front seats with some manual settings, dealer installed burl walnut driver side cup holder, power passenger side mirror, and a rear folding armrest for the rear Recaro seats.
An Alpine CDE-172 BT head unit is currently installed in the center console with the original Concord CX70 head unit in the box that is included with the sale which was presumably installed by Andy Cohen at Beverly Hills Motoring Accessories along with an upgraded sound system featuring a spare audio box on the rear parcel shelf. Brochures for a Ungo Box TL-1600 Car Vehicle Protection System are in the glovebox with the module located within the front bumper as seen under the car. The seller believes it has been decommissioned. The seller notes the A/C [control] panel will need to be refurbished as it continuously blows air through the vents. The climate control system does blow cold air and the heat works as well. All four windows roll down and the sunroof retracts and tilts.
The leather-wrapped AMG M38 steering wheel is mounted with the correct AMG adapter. Instrumentation includes a standard 160-mph speedometer and a 7k-rpm tachometer with an inset analog clock. Additional readouts include fuel level, oil pressure, coolant temperature, and instant economy. The six-digit odometer shows approximately 29,423 original miles.
The most important aspect that makes this a Hammer is the AMG-modified 6.0-liter DOHC 32-valve M117 V8 engine that increased engine output to approximately 385 horsepower and 417 lb-ft of torque. The car originally came fitted with a 3.0-liter M103 inline-six which was then swapped for a 5.5-liter M117 from a 560SEC/L of the era. AMG then bored, polished, blueprinted, and balanced the all-aluminum engine's internals and swapped the stock single-cam, two-valve-per-cylinder heads for its own free-breathing, twin-cam, four-valve-per-cylinder units. The bored and stroked engine meant Mercedes-Benz had to use Porsche 928 pistons for the new design and their own head gasket design to boot. The firewall modifications are shown in the gallery and indicate how AMG had to cut and hammer the first firewall so the engine would fit in the bay appropriately. Modules, battery, and wiring had to be moved elsewhere to make room for the larger heads as AMG stuffed heat insulation between the modified firewall and the rear of the engine. A unique tubular header design was used to expel exhaust gasses at a faster and higher rate letting the engine exhale better to generate more power. These DOHC M117 engines have their own larger intake manifolds as the engine is both larger and has double the camshafts. Detailed photos of the engine bay are provided showing the AMG valve covers with “300 6.0 28” stamped on the side. A pair of spare AMG heads are included in the sale and shown in the gallery.
The seller notes the car had been stored for years until he bought the car in 2020 and has slowly been going through its systems to get it road ready. Recent services include complete ignition overhaul, fuel system overhaul, BOSCH fuel injectors, fuel regulators, filters, air bypass lines, EHA valve, coolant reservoir, new radiator, drive belts, fan clutch, and fluids. The oil and filter were replaced along with coolant. This Hammer appears to have an o-ring failure between the multi-piece heads and will need a head gasket service for it to be able to make long drives. It will drive for approximately thirty minutes before the engine temperature rises beyond the normal mark. Power is sent to the rear wheels via a re-valved four-speed 722.3 transmission from a W126 with a Torsen limited-slip differential and a reinforced rear subframe to withstand the chassis flex and reduce squat.
The Carfax report lists no accidents or damage and registration history only in California when the current owner registered the car in 2020. The seller has included printed photographs of the car when he found it in 2020 in the collection out of San Francisco a few miles from his house. Now with only 29,423 original miles, this AMG Hammer is being offered by the seller with detailed recent service records, a pair of spare AMG heads, three keys, the Barry Taylor importation sheet, tool kit, fire extinguisher, manufacturer’s literature, in-period magazine articles, fitted car cover, spare wheel, Concord CX70 head unit, and a clean California title in the owner’s name.
The MB Market Insights
The moniker “Hammer” is arguably more legendary than the car itself. It has worked its way into car enthusiast rhetoric, for better or for worse, latching itself to everything from Monoblock wheels to quad-cam W/C126s to AMG W202s. While the term “Hammer” is loosely thrown around and perpetuates itself in conversation, very little is actually known about these cars. With about 54 Hammers ever produced world wide, it’s no wonder there's a gaping void of information about these exotics available on the internet for people to mop up – thus why people misuse the term “Hammer.”
This German market AMG Hammer was discovered in 2020 by the current owner who is a master Mercedes-Benz technician. He discovered the car in the back of a warehouse out of a Mercedes-Benz collection. Being a technician who shadowed under Barry Taylor at AMG West, he was not afraid of wrenching on a sedan that was pitted against a 288 GTO in-period by magazines. These engines are pure exotica and pulled all the engineering haymakers out of the AMG motorsport playbook. The multi-piece heads were derived from formula 1 car technology. Using the bottom end of a 5.5-liter M117 engine, AMG went to work polishing, lightening, and strengthening all components. Their purpose was to extract power and pure, raw speed. Individual oil feed lines were tapped into the heads to feed each camshaft. There are two timing chains, one spinning intake and the other exhaust. They then took this engine and shoehorned it into the W124 chassis which caused a domino effect of engineering headaches to tackle.
This requires drastic firewall modification, rear subframe strengthening as they used the rear end out of a 560-series car, and the installation of a LSD, all in the name of performance. These truly are hotrods in the purest sense of the term all done by the AMG race team out of Germany. For a four door stodgy family sedan to compete with a Testarosa, 288 GTO, Lamborghini, and 930 Turbo in comparison tests, it must have been incomprehensible to readers in the late ‘80s.
Each Hammer is unique as they were all custom built to the customer’s personal taste. This Hammer features the ridiculously comfortable and aggressive Recaro buckets not only for the front passengers but also for the rear occupants – and covered in grippy Suede! We got to chat with the Westmont AMG crew a few months ago and one of the employees told us he was able to bury the speedo at 180-mph with three of his coworkers in tow. It is uncommon for these cars to come up for auction. This is a special moment in the automotive sphere and we’re happy to debut this uncovered, never before seen AMG Hammer during Monterey Car Week for the world to see. We hope listings like these can be used to make it clearer how historically important these Hammers are to the exotic and tuning car sphere of the ‘80s which is gaining worldwide popularity.
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