- Only 13 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Edition 130Y Motorsport vehicles will be produced
- Unfortunately, none of them are coming to Canada
- The AMG GT3 Edition 130Y Motorsport is significantly lighter than the actual racing version
As Mercedes-Benzes go, things don’t get much more exclusive than the AMG GT3 Edition 130Y Motorsport unveiled at Pebble Beach this year. Only 13 of them will be produced, all of them are spoken for and, no, none of them are coming to Canada.
Still, it’s a magnificent beast, combining, in Mercedes-AMG’s own words, “modern motorsport technology and traditional design elements of the legendary race cars from the 1950s.”
The modern starts with a naturally-aspirated 6.3-litre, double overhead cam V8 liberated by the absence of the restrictor plate normally utilized to abide racing rules and an even more free-flowing exhaust system. No less than 671 bellowing horsepower drive its sequential six-speed transaxle.
Harnessing all that power is some updated aerodynamics and a Drag Reduction System. Marry new front splitters, side skirts and rear diffuser with a push-button DRS system and you have a classic silhouette slippery enough for the 315 kilometre an hour top speed but with enough downforce to keep the 130Y glued to the road.
It also stops on the proverbial dime. The braking system, inspired by Formula 1, features carbon brake discs instead of the steel discs required by GT3 regulations, making the 130Y edition significantly lighter than the actual racing version. Harder stopping, too!
Put it all together and the GT3 Edition 130Y Motorsport is quick enough to have set a new track record at the Australia’s Mount Panorama Circuit Driving a prototype of the new 130Y Motorsport, Jules Gounon, a Mercedes-AMG team driver, having stomped the track record for GT cars around the iconic 3.868-mile circuit by whopping 2.074 seconds.
What inspired the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Edition 130Y Motorsport?
Meanwhile, Mercedes says that its famed 300 SL W 194 race car served as inspiration for the 130Y’s livery. The exclusive silver paint finish is reminiscent of the legendary Silver Arrows race cars, the blue accents on the front fenders and radiator grille harken back to the winning race cars driven in 1952 by Hans Klenk and Karl Kling in the Carrera Panamericana while the 18-inch magnesium wheels and AMG crest on the roof connect the old and the modern.
Inside, that same retro-modern motif persists. So, while advanced motorsport technologies such as the Bosch DDU 10 cockpit display support the driver, visually, the interior is inspired by the Mercedes-Benz SLR 300 which legendary Juan Manuel Fangio drove to such success. The 13 lucky owners get a personalized Bell, matching the 130Y’s Silver Arrows colour. Even the kidlets get in on the deal, a 1:8 scale model of the limited-edition part of the deal.
The asking price is a tad over a million Euros which would make the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Edition 130Y Motorsport worth roughly CAD$1.55 million.
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