hamgburglar said:
I'm not usually one to talk ill of the dead, but Barry Taylor's reputation in Mercedes-Benz world does, in fact, precede him. Using the most generous qualifiers of his known business practices during the 80s and 90s, one could say they were "dubious" or "sketchy". HOWEVER.....this AMG Hammer is quite clearly NOT a car to sweat about regarding Barry's involvement in its history... Even today, you can see that sometimes the worst car dealers still end up with incredible cars in their inventory, and this was also true of Barry. There can be absolutely no doubt that this is a 100% authentic AMG Hammer. German-built, it checks every single box so far as observable authenticity markers that I know of. This is a relatively early Hammer (#12, 1987 MY), and even for that it has identifiers which further exhibit it as such. The grey suede interior has to be a full Gemballa job. IMHO, since the car was originally a Stuttgart-order, the buyer should presume that it was immediately rolled down the street to Affalterbach when new. Thankfully for the next owner, Barry merely imported this car from Germany, and it was certainly imported several years BEFORE Barry had purchased Buxbaum's remaining parts inventory and things that sketchy dealers do..... The AMG VIN stamp in the gusseted firewall is absolutely genuine, and honestly the only "Barry special" elements I can see are the door jamb sticker (173/174) and MB VIN scratched into car (photo 497), which he would have merely done to get the car road registered in California. Pross Mellon, as he was known, was a longtime RENNTech client following his experience with this Hammer that Barry imported for him. The only question about this car, to me, is how Pross learned about the AMG Hammer in the first place and decided that he wanted one... Any questions, I will check in here over the week and keep an eye on the comments streaming in.....in the meantime I will look through old magazines to see if any articles features a four-door AMG Hammer with grey suede upholstery ;)
I'm running out of popcorn, Al!
@AMG5pt4 Hi Al, do you think the original owner would have lent the car to the producers of Miami Vice? Look at the pinstripe.... https://pics.imcdb.org/0is104/bitmap32nu0.7141.jpg
@TheAMGKit @MBFahrer The 5.4 was VERY nice and drove very well. Bulletproof provenance too. Wanted for nothing and Patina got a great deal. Luck of the draw sometimes, I could have seen it doing much better/selling for much more. IMHO that car "under" sold and this 560SEL is stupid. apples and oranges...
whoever buys this, make sure to reprogram/reset the TCU via the process discussed in this thread. https://mbworld.org/forums/c36-amg-c43-amg-w202/345523-ecu-reset-wow.html
if this sells for more than the documented 500SEL 5.4 AMG which RM sold last week, I will walk into traffic.
Very cool car! Would you please be kind enough to post a picture of the car's engine number and also ECU array and ignition module part numbers--I ask this because I wish to confirm the tune and/or additional engine modifications by AMG! all of these will be located in the engine bay.... The ECU's will be under the cover near the passenger side firewall, and the ignition modules should be under the cover near the driver's side wheel fender. Please and thank you!
@kvrs Very, very cool car. The listing mentions, "The seller had the car verified in 2017 by Diamler AG via the Mercedes-Benz / AMG register." What does this mean? How did you go about doing so? I have my own old AMG and would appreciate some insight. Perhaps the answer would also be of value to the auction? I can DM you if not.
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1987 Mercedes-Benz 6.0 AMG Hammer w/29k Miles
hamgburglar said:
I'm not usually one to talk ill of the dead, but Barry Taylor's reputation in Mercedes-Benz world does, in fact, precede him. Using the most generous qualifiers of his known business practices during the 80s and 90s, one could say they were "dubious" or "sketchy". HOWEVER.....this AMG Hammer is quite clearly NOT a car to sweat about regarding Barry's involvement in its history... Even today, you can see that sometimes the worst car dealers still end up with incredible cars in their inventory, and this was also true of Barry. There can be absolutely no doubt that this is a 100% authentic AMG Hammer. German-built, it checks every single box so far as observable authenticity markers that I know of. This is a relatively early Hammer (#12, 1987 MY), and even for that it has identifiers which further exhibit it as such. The grey suede interior has to be a full Gemballa job. IMHO, since the car was originally a Stuttgart-order, the buyer should presume that it was immediately rolled down the street to Affalterbach when new. Thankfully for the next owner, Barry merely imported this car from Germany, and it was certainly imported several years BEFORE Barry had purchased Buxbaum's remaining parts inventory and things that sketchy dealers do..... The AMG VIN stamp in the gusseted firewall is absolutely genuine, and honestly the only "Barry special" elements I can see are the door jamb sticker (173/174) and MB VIN scratched into car (photo 497), which he would have merely done to get the car road registered in California. Pross Mellon, as he was known, was a longtime RENNTech client following his experience with this Hammer that Barry imported for him. The only question about this car, to me, is how Pross learned about the AMG Hammer in the first place and decided that he wanted one... Any questions, I will check in here over the week and keep an eye on the comments streaming in.....in the meantime I will look through old magazines to see if any articles features a four-door AMG Hammer with grey suede upholstery ;)1984 Mercedes-Benz 500SEL 5.4 AMG
hamgburglar said:
I'm running out of popcorn, Al!1984 Mercedes-Benz 500SEL 5.4 AMG
hamgburglar said:
@AMG5pt4 Hi Al, do you think the original owner would have lent the car to the producers of Miami Vice? Look at the pinstripe.... https://pics.imcdb.org/0is104/bitmap32nu0.7141.jpg1990 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL AMG
hamgburglar said:
@TheAMGKit @MBFahrer The 5.4 was VERY nice and drove very well. Bulletproof provenance too. Wanted for nothing and Patina got a great deal. Luck of the draw sometimes, I could have seen it doing much better/selling for much more. IMHO that car "under" sold and this 560SEL is stupid. apples and oranges...NO RESERVE: 1999 Mercedes-Benz C43 AMG
hamgburglar said:
whoever buys this, make sure to reprogram/reset the TCU via the process discussed in this thread. https://mbworld.org/forums/c36-amg-c43-amg-w202/345523-ecu-reset-wow.html1990 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL AMG
hamgburglar said:
if this sells for more than the documented 500SEL 5.4 AMG which RM sold last week, I will walk into traffic.1997 Mercedes-Benz CL600 AMG V12 6.0
hamgburglar said:
Very cool car! Would you please be kind enough to post a picture of the car's engine number and also ECU array and ignition module part numbers--I ask this because I wish to confirm the tune and/or additional engine modifications by AMG! all of these will be located in the engine bay.... The ECU's will be under the cover near the passenger side firewall, and the ignition modules should be under the cover near the driver's side wheel fender. Please and thank you!1985 Mercedes-Benz 500SEC 5.4 AMG Widebody
hamgburglar said:
@kvrs Very, very cool car. The listing mentions, "The seller had the car verified in 2017 by Diamler AG via the Mercedes-Benz / AMG register." What does this mean? How did you go about doing so? I have my own old AMG and would appreciate some insight. Perhaps the answer would also be of value to the auction? I can DM you if not.