Mercedes-AMG Stuffs a Flat-Plane V8 Into the CLE Super Coupe, but Only 30 People Get One

When AMG pulled the V8 from its beloved C63 and installed a four-cylinder hybrid in its place, the enthusiast community reacted about as well as you’d expect. Affalterbach has spent the years since hinting that eight cylinders would eventually find their way back into a two-door.

Well, that day has finally arrived, but there’s a pretty a serious catch. Meet the Mercedes-AMG CLE 646 Spezialanfertigung, a hand-built, rear-drive V8 coupe limited to just 30 units worldwide.

According to Mercedes, this whole thing started when a small group of AMG engineers built a prototype outside any official product plan, chasing an answer to how far the CLE could be pushed. AMG boss Stefan Weckbach describes it as rational engineers dreaming up a highly irrational car.

The result is the second entry in the collector-focused Mythos Series, following the windscreen-less PureSpeed roadster. Each car starts life as a CLE 53 before being completely torn down and rebuilt by hand in Affalterbach, the same artisan tradition that gave us the legendary “Hammer” of the 1980s.

Now, the part we’ve all been waiting for. Under the carbon fiber hood sits an uprated M177 EVO 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 with a flat-plane crank, good for 637 horsepower and 627 lb-ft of torque.

Better still, AMG deleted the 4MATIC+ system entirely, sending every last pony rearward through a 9-speed automatic and an electronic limited-slip diff that happily permits drifting. The result is 62 mph in 3.9 seconds, a 193-mph top end, and a titanium Akrapovič-developed exhaust to serenade the whole affair.

The rebuild shed roughly 375 pounds versus the original donor car. The fenders, hood, roof, sills, aprons, and adjustable rear wing are all carbon fiber, and the rear glass is now polycarbonate. The back seats have also been completely removed in favor of a roll bar and racing buckets.

The widebody stance stretches 2.4 inches wider at both ends, housing 305- and 335-section rubber derived from AMG ONE tech. With the front diffuser flipped to its Race position, the aero package generates over 550 pounds of downforce.

Mercedes never even published a price for the CLE 646 Spezialanfertigung, and frankly, it doesn’t matter. All 30 hand-built examples were spoken for before the car’s world premiere, so the rest of us will have to settle for admiring that silver-to-black fade paint from afar.

2027 Mercedes-AMG CLE 646 Spezialanfertigung

AMG returns the twin-turbo V8 to its two-door lineup with a hand-built, rear-drive, 637HP widebody coupe that sold out all 30 examples before anyone outside Affalterbach ever saw it.