I of course refer to the recently-neutered C63 and the new Mercedes-AMG GT43, which both use 2.0-litre turbocharged engines in place of a beloved V8. Where once there beat the heart of a barrel-chested Mongolian throat singer, now there’s the thrum and pop of your nan’s badly-wired sewing machine – more tongs than Hammer, more beige hamster than Red Pig.
As a journalist of course I’m forced to concede that without driving them, I can’t conclude whether they’re good cars or not. I’d certainly like to confirm for sure. But I can conclude that 450kg extra in the C63 doesn’t bode well and that on a personal level, just by looking at the spec sheet and listening to clips, I couldn’t want one any less. Seemingly, at least in the case of the C63 which has had a year on sale, nor do most of the people who did used to want the V8-powered ones. Reports coming from German dealers suggest demand is “close to zero”.
The GT43 is at least only an entry point to a range of AMG GT variants with most being V8s and one that, for whatever reason, the UK won’t get. It’s also not a hybrid and, unlike its V8 siblings, not all-wheel-drive. That means it’s some 200kg lighter, which has allowed Mercedes to at a pinch market it as the “purist’s” AMG GT.