Mercedes-AMG CLE 646 Spezialanfertigung Is Even More Ridiculous Than An American Will Sound Pronouncing Its Name

AMG has developed a lot of really bananas vehicles over the years, from its days as a tuner of Mercedes-Benz road and race cars to all the models developed after Mercedes took AMG in-house. Over the past two decades, the wildest cars to come from Affalterbach have been the Black Series models, but now Mercedes-AMG has debuted something even more extreme: the new CLE 646 Spezialanfertigung.

The name means “custom made,” and the car is even more ridiculous than its name will sound being pronounced by Americans. That’s a good thing, mind you. Underneath the Spezialanfertigung’s widebody is a V8 engine and a lot less weight, and it’s purely rear-wheel drive. The Spezialanfertigung is the second in Mercedes’ Mythos Series of limited-run specials, the first of which was the SL-based, windshieldless PureSpeed. Only 30 of these are going to be hand-built, and all of them are already sold. Sorry. But we know a regular V8-powered CLE63 is coming soon, which should be awesome if not quite as bonkers as the Spezialanfertigung.

Mercedes-AMG

All that torque is sent just to the rear wheels through a 9-speed automatic transmission, making this the first rear-wheel-drive V8-powered AMG since the old C63 was discontinued in 2023. It has an electronically controlled limited-slip differential that optimizes torque distribution for traction and dynamics, but AMG says that “under suitable driving conditions, it can also support controlled drifting.” Uh huh, I’m sure.

According to AMG, the Spezialanfertigung will hit 62 mph in 3.9 seconds, which is pretty good for something this big and rear-wheel drive. (The previous-gen C63 coupe did the same sprint in about the same amount of time.) The Spezialanfertigung needs 11.4 seconds to reach 124 mph, and it’ll hit a top speed of 193 mph.

The steel coilover suspension was a joint development between AMG and KW Automotive, featuring four-way adjustable dampers with “independently configurable low speed and high speed rebound and compression settings [that] allows the chassis to be tailored precisely to a wide range of driving requirements.” It’s 0.9 inches lower up front and 0.6 inches lower in back than a CLE53, and the body and track are 2.4 inches wider overall. The Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R tires are pretty massive — 305/30ZR20 fronts and 335/30ZR20 rears — and the rubber is “a further development” of what was used by the AMG One.

Mercedes-AMG

AMG has offered carbon-ceramic brakes on models of this size and class before, but the Spezialanfertigung has a new iteration with its own unique cooling system. Says the automaker:

Large air intakes in the front bumper and dedicated airflow-guiding elements significantly improve heat dissipation.At the front axle, internally ventilated and perforated ceramic brake discs measuring 16.5 x 1.6 inches are paired with six-piston fixed calipers and long-fiber technology. Heat generated within the friction surface during braking is transferred more rapidly into the cooling channels of the disc, resulting in lower brake pad temperatures. At the rear axle, internally ventilated and perforated ceramic brake discs measuring 14.2 x 1.3 inches are combined with single-piston floating calipers. Compared with a conventional braking system, the setup reduces weight and unsprung masses. Both driving dynamics and turn-in response benefit directly. The gold-painted brake calipers further underline the system’s high-performance character.

Those eyeliner vents direct airflow through the wheel arches and out the louvered vents sitting atop the front wheels, which are a particularly nice bit of design. At first you might not notice, but the rear fenders have a noticeable line where the wider section is added on, a nice callback to widebody AMGs of the 1980s. Stacked exhaust tips aside the rear bumper isn’t that interesting, but you’ll definitely notice the very big rear wing.

Mercedes-AMG

Adjust three fasteners and you can change the front diffuser from Street to Race positioning, the latter of which creates an inverted wing shape that creates a Venturi effect underneath the car; AMG says changes to the cooling system allowed for an almost fully enclosed front underbody, and the flat floor has longitudinal fins to further channel airflow.. The center section of the wing is manually adjustable, and in total the car can generate over 550 pounds of downforce. 

If you’re a real nerd like me, you’ll have noticed that the headlights and taillights have three-pointed stars in them. That’s something that will spread to the rest of the lineup when the CLE gets facelifted (and the regular CLE63 gets revealed) in the near future.

Though the Spezialanfertigung still has traction control, it can be “adjusted with great precision” across nine different stages according to “the driver’s desired proximity to the handling limit.” And there still are a bunch of drive modes and settings to choose for, such as the transmission’s aggressiveness. 

The Mercedes‑AMG CLE 646 Spezialanfertigung began with a simple question: How can a CLE be developed even further towards maximum driving dynamics? A small group initially began by building a prototype. The goal was not a collection of individual performance upgrades or a conventional special edition. Instead, the vehicle was reimagined as a complete performance system. The result is a comprehensive rebuild crafted to Affalterbach manufactory standards, forming the basis for the model designation “Spezialanfertigung”

This is exactly the sort of car that automakers should let their engineers run wild with, especially if we’re talking about an enthusiast-focused brand. Yeah, AMG is only making 30 of these Mythos Series cars, and you can’t buy one. (And while Mercedes hasn’t given a price, I bet these are each at least $500,000.) But at the same time that AMG has been developing the Spezialanfertigung, it’s also been working on the V8-powered CLE63 that will be available to the relative masses. It always seems like the presence of a mega performance model uplifts the normie models, and hopefully that will be the case with the CLE.

As nice as it will be to have a more regular CLE63, though, the Spezialanfertigung really just makes me excited for the upcoming AMG GT Black Series. Now that car is gonna be ridiculous.