While I’ve shot many makes and models, one thing that had yet to land in from of my lens was a Mercedes. This week, AMMO NYC fixes that with a Mercedes AMG GT Black Series Coupe. It’s $325,000, very rare and very beautiful. Does it turn my camera to stone?
What are AMMO NYC Details?
By now, avid readers will notice a consistent theme with AMMO. Whenever Larry gets something interesting and special in (which is every day), and the client wants a shoot, I head to the garage for a light painting session. This Mercedes AMG GT Black Series Coupe was purchased from Danbury Mercedes in Connecticut, and the unveiling would be in Larry’s garage.
Do you really dislike Mercedes?
No, I just like having fun. First, their record in F1 is beyond reproach. Second, they always sound amazing (though this one’s a bit different). Finally, they are consistently nicer inside than any BMW.
What’s the Mercedes AMG GT Black Series Coupe like?
Taking the place of Mercedes halo car in their lineup, Black Series cars always get more of everything. In the GT’s case, you have carbon fiber kit on the lower portion of the car outside, along with a big rear wing and unique wheels.
But what truly makes this car special is the engine. While every AMG engine is hand-built, this Black Series gets a flat-plane crank V-8. Flat plane engines have a unique sound, much higher-pitched, than a conventional V-8. It’s what gives a Ferrari that wonderful high-pitched roar, as oppose to the bassy roar of a Camaro or Mustang.
Starting the car does give you a nice roar, but it’s not what you might be used to from AMG. With news that Mercedes is trying to go all electric in the near future, cars like this will soon disappear.
It’s their most powerful road car to date, and it makes 720 horsepower. Compare that to BMW’s M5 CS, with “just” 627, as BMW’s most powerful car to date.
Going in
I will say this for the group from Stuttgart; they know how to make an interior. It’s really beautifully finished, and much more comfortable than the 911 GT3 I was in a few weeks back. You might excuse this as being price-based. After all, you could buy 2 M5 CSs for the price of this car. But the advantage inside goes through the entire lineup. BMWs are functional and cleanly finished, but you still always know it’s a BMW. Maybe that’s not a bad thing, but Merc is clearly a step or two above.
Though severe (this is a SERIOUS car, after all), the designers did have fun with the traction control switch. Front and center is a yellow Lego brick that turns the traction control from “I got you, bro”, all the way to “Tire, medium rare”, with many steps between. I’m not sure how you’d determine how much traction control you might need until it’s too late, but there we are.
Light painting the Mercedes AMG GT Black Series Coupe
Larry’s garage offers a great space to work with. It gets totally dark, has a row of LED lights on the rear wall, and offers enough room to position the cars how I need them.
To get this shot…
I used this sequence, then combined them all together in Photoshop as I normally do.
We’ll see what’s up next at the AMMO garage!
Special thanks to Larry from AMMO NYC for making the car available.
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I use Nikon camera bodies and lenses, a Westcott Ice Light 2, Manfrotto tripod, B + W filters and an iMac Pro to make the art you see here.
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