Media | Articles
Is the Market for Pre-Merger AMGs Too Mature?
At the Amelia Island auctions from Broad Arrow and Gooding Christie’s, there were over a dozen so-called “pre-merger” AMGs (cars built before Mercedes-Benz took controlling interest in AMG in 1999) on offer. With those results behind us, it’s a good time to check in on the market for these symbols of ’80s and ’90s automotive excess. We’ve looked at this market in the past and noted how it is maturing with things like documentation, condition, and unique features to value the cars. However, with appreciation comparatively slow and the family-oriented W124-series selling for the highest prices, the pre-merger AMG market might have matured too much.
One feature that has helped distinguish the more valuable cars from the more questionable bargains out there is the AMG Classic Conversion Certificate. Issued by AMG in Germany, it draws from the firm’s archives to authenticate a car’s genuine conversion with AMG equipment and features. Without an authentication certificate, the car in question could simply be an AMG tribute car, built with questionable parts and consequently worth significantly less. Introduced in late 2024, the certificate costs nearly one thousand dollars, but the difference in the average auction sale price of cars with one vs. those without is staggering—$326K for those with the certificate and $36K for those without it.
Unique-spec examples such as the five-speed manual W124-series cars offered by Gooding Christie’s in Amelia Island this year didn’t meet their lofty estimates, but the $753K final price for the 1988 300 E 6.0 ‘Hammer’ was still the fourth highest price ever paid for one. Also, the same car was purchased in 2016 for approximately $89,000 at RM Sotheby’s Duemila Ruote auction in Italy. In the interim, the once-neglected car was restored and its AMG DOHC 32-valve engine rebuilt.
Not all of these early AMGs have been treated to such extensive restorations, nor have they all seen such immense appreciation. While the uniqueness of many of these early AMGs is what makes them so collectible, we can track the general appreciation of cars like the 560SEC 6.0-liter wide-body. In the past five years, sale prices for these have appreciated approximately 34 percent. While that is a healthy rate of appreciation, an unmodified 560SEC in similarly excellent condition is up nearly 81 percent over the same period, albeit at about one-seventh the value. Unfortunately, the 124-series cars are too varied to make a comparison using the recent auctions in Florida. Still, between late 2019 and August 2024, the E60 AMG Limited appreciated approximately 59 percent, while the non-AMG E500 appreciated 73 percent.
Another curiosity is that Mercedes-Benz has an established hierarchy of models. In the 1980s and 1990s, it was the entry-level W201 190E, the mid-level W124 300E, and the W126 S-Class or R107/R129 SL at the top (in the present market, these would be the C-Class, E-Class, S-Class, and SL, respectively.) However, based on price levels, the AMG versions of these cars invert the hierarchy.
Marketplace
Buy and sell classics with confidence
The E-Class W124-series cars have routinely sold in the $600K to $800K range. The W126 cars, which were higher up in the Mercedes range when new, have yet to break the $600K level at auction. The R129 SLs, meanwhile, have yet to break the $100K level. It seems that despite the menacing looks of the wide-body 560SEC 6.0s, and the sophistication of the SLs, the 124-series ‘Hammers’ with their sleeper looks and often four-door bodywork are the most sought-after and by far the most expensive. Too mature, indeed.
Find more values
Search for prices of other cars, trucks, vans and motorcycles
For AMG automobiles imported by AMG NA and converted in Westmont, Illinois we do have some of the records. For Certificates of Authenticity there is no fee, however we do require that you to make a contribution to your favorite charity.
I find these cars are often bought not by Mercedes enthusiasts but by collectors who see them as the ultimate Mercedes because they have the highest HP numbers and biggest original MSRPs. I’d rather save one of the last remaining original stock Mercedes from this era and enjoy the greater usability, design, fuel economy, parts availability, etc.
I’d be happy with a CL55 AMG.