What’s happening?
Just as you read it in the title, the now famous AMG Red Pig was created by a couple of crazy for racing and who also mastered mechanics.
The original AMG Red Pig at the 1971 Spa 24 Hours, where it finished 2nd. absolute
The original “Red Pig” was created in the early seventies on the premises of an old mill located in Brugstal in Grossaspach, Germany. The basis for the creation of the Red Pig was a Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL with a 6.3-liter V8, which already had the features of a sports car being a huge sedan.
Do you want to know the history of AMG? Read here.
The legendary Red Pig is undoubtedly one of Mercedes’ wildest and most iconic racing carsand now someone may have a fabulous exact replica that will be up for auction soon at the Oldtimer Galerie house in Toffen, Switzerland.
Let’s learn more about the Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 that was considered in its time as the “Super Sedan” since MB engineers managed to fit the gigantic engine of the 600 SEL Pullman in a vehicle with a shorter wheelbase, a shaved lion that could scare off many of the Ferraris or sports cars of the time.
When does it go from being the stately 300 SEL to being the Red Pig?
This is when the crazy people from AMG enter the scene -which in those years was a company totally unrelated to the Mercedes-Benz corporate and was also very frowned upon by the German manufacturer-.
AMG engineers Aufrech and Melcher decided that the already monumental 6.3-liter V8 wasn’t powerful enough, and “opened up” it to 6.8-liters, making the elegant sedan deliver 400. Today 400 hp is a lot, imagine yourself in the 70s!
All the luxury and fine materials – wood and leather – used in the interior of the 300 SEL ended up in the trash, since the AMG tuners decided to eliminate everything that added extra weight. Also added is a racing suspension and flared fenders to accommodate Ronal wheels and much wider tires to help keep the Red Pig glued to the track. The final touch was a five-speed manual gearbox.
The Red Pig for its appearance and dimensions was something completely out of place on a race track and the friends of AMG were showered with criticism and justly there was born the nickname of Red Pig, Rote Sau or Red Pig. All these critics were silenced when the big AMG car achieved an overall second place in the 1971 24 Hours of Spa, thus firmly consolidating its place and earning itself a great reputation in the eyes of all. even from Mercedes-Benz itself, which always looked at what AMG did with suspicion, but now with respect.
The auction tribute
The tribute whose images illustrate this note -except the first-, will be auctioned at Oldtimer Galerie within the framework of the “Swiss Classic World Lucerne”, was painstakingly built over several years and it features a 6.8-litre V8 and a manual gearbox like the original Red Pig.
It’s only covered 500 kilometers, which means it’s more than ready to hit the track with its next owner. And one thing worth noting is that is being considered as a competition car, for which it lacks license plates and cannot drive on the road, at least in Europe.
We do not have more data, such as the starting price for example, but we believe -if it is sold- it will go with a high price, since according to statistical data other reproductions have been sold in auction houses such as RMSothebys and the amounts paid are close to half a million euros.
We will inform you on the Autocosmos social networks as soon as the Red Pig tribute is sold!
