Mercedes-AMG CLE 646 Spezialanfertigung: 30 cars, 646 horsepower, and a V8 back on the rear wheels alone

The name is the specification. Spezialanfertigung is German for a special build, and 646 is the horsepower, so a Mercedes-AMG CLE 646 Spezialanfertigung is a CLE 53 taken apart in Affalterbach and rebuilt by hand around the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8. It is the second car in the Mythos series, Mercedes-Benz's line of collector cars in strictly limited numbers, after the roofless PureSpeed of 2024, of which 250 were built. This one is limited to 30, all of them road-legal, and every one was spoken for before the reveal on 10 September 2026. Mercedes has not published a price.

The engine is the M177 EVO with a flat-plane crankshaft, tuned to 646 horsepower (475 kW) between 6,000 and 6,250 rpm and 850 Nm from 2,500 to 4,500 rpm, with a 48-volt starter-generator adding 23 horsepower and 205 Nm. The 4MATIC+ system from the CLE 53 has been removed altogether: drive goes to the rear axle only, through the AMG SPEEDSHIFT TCT 9G gearbox and an electronically controlled limited-slip differential, with Launch Control recalibrated for two driven wheels. 0 to 100 km/h takes 3.9 seconds, 0 to 200 km/h 11.4 seconds, and 0 to 300 km/h 36.2 seconds in the Street aero setting. Top speed is 310 km/h. The exhaust is titanium, with a cold end developed with Akrapovič. Every other V8 AMG on sale in September 2026 drives all four wheels.

Roughly 170 kg came out. The car weighs 1,895 kg DIN, with the rear seats, sound insulation and most of the assistance systems gone, and the bonnet, roof, boot lid, sills, front and rear aprons and the widened fenders all in carbon fiber. The rear window and rear side windows are polycarbonate. The bodyshell was reinforced and widened for 60 mm more track at each axle, taking overall width to 1,987 mm and making room for 305/30 ZR20 front and 335/30 ZR20 rear tyres, developed from the Mercedes-AMG ONE's tyre technology, on 20-inch forged wheels. The paint is Mojave silver magno forward of the B-pillar and obsidian black magno behind it, with an AMG crest on each door.

The suspension is a steel coilover system developed with KW automotive, four-way adjustable in low- and high-speed bump and rebound, and the car sits 22 mm lower at the front and 16 mm lower at the rear than a CLE 53. Carbon-ceramic brakes measure 420 x 40 mm with six-piston calipers in front and 360 x 32 mm behind. The front diffuser is set by hand between Street and Race, Race being for the circuit only; with the centre section of the carbon rear wing adjusted to match, the aero package produces more than 250 kg of downforce at top speed. Louvers in the front fenders vent the wheel arches, fed by a new channel beside each headlight. A roll-over bar behind the two racing bucket seats adds torsional rigidity, an optional Performance package adds six-point harnesses, and AMG TRACTION CONTROL offers nine stages of rear-axle slip with ESP off.

Dr Stefan Weckbach, chairman of Mercedes-AMG, says the car exists because "highly rational engineers dreamed of a highly irrational car". AMG places it in the line of the hand-built 300 CE 6.0 "Hammer" of the late 1980s, and it was built for heat: the three cooling circuits, for the engine, for charge air and gearbox oil, and for the 48-volt electrics, were uprated specifically for circuit work in high ambient temperatures. Combined consumption is 15.8 l/100 km, 359 g/km CO₂.

For Thailand, the maths on a 30-car run is the familiar one: the cars were spoken for before the reveal, and they went through relationships rather than a deposit queue. A sold-out Mythos allocation is not a closed one, though. Build slots move before the first car is delivered, and we know where these cars go. We import to order and we quote landed, with duty, tax and timeline included. If you want a CLE 646, the useful thing is to say so now, and we will come back with an honest read on whether an allocation is reachable, what it lands at here, and how long it takes. If it is not reachable, we will tell you that too.