Mercedes-AMG's 646 hp CLE track special sold out before its reveal
Mercedes-AMG has taken the CLE, torn out its all-wheel-drive system and turned it into a 646 hp, rear-driven track weapon, and all 30 cars were spoken for before the covers came off.
The Mercedes-AMG CLE 646 Spezialanfertigung is the second model in the Mercedes-Benz Mythos Series, the ultra-exclusive collector line that started with the roofless AMG PureSpeed. Where the PureSpeed chased open-air theatre, this one chases lap times. It is road-legal, but everything about it points at a circuit.
We have been following this car for months. Back in January we caught a heavily camouflaged Mythos prototype sliding across the ice in northern Sweden, and we asked whether the production version would become the modern CLK Black Series we had been hoping for. Now we have the answer, and it is more extreme than most of those rumours suggested.
646 hp, and the AMG V8 is back on song
At its heart sits the AMG M177 EVO 4.0-litre V8 biturbo, reworked to produce 646 hp (475 kW) and 850 Nm from 2,500 to 4,500 rpm. A 48-volt integrated starter generator adds a further 23 hp (17 kW) and 205 Nm on demand. The flat-plane crankshaft cuts rotating mass and sharpens throttle response, while a bespoke Akrapovič cold-end exhaust in titanium both lifts the soundtrack and saves weight. Three separate cooling circuits keep it stable from a hot pit lane to a full track session.
The number in the name is the power figure. That is the whole point.
From all-wheel drive to pure rear-wheel drive
The biggest change is not the power. AMG has removed the Performance 4MATIC+ all-wheel-drive system entirely and sends every Newton metre to the rear axle alone. An electronically controlled limited-slip differential manages the rear wheels, sharpening traction and stability, and allowing controlled drifting when the driver asks for it. The nine-speed AMG SPEEDSHIFT TCT 9G stays, with launch control retuned for rear drive.
The result is 0-100 km/h in 3.9 seconds, 0-200 km/h in 11.4 seconds and a 310 km/h top speed. Those are quick numbers, but on a car like this the feel matters more than the stopwatch, and rear-wheel drive is a deliberate statement about the kind of driving AMG wants here.
170 kg lighter, 60 mm wider, and mostly carbon
Weight and width did the rest. AMG stripped around 170 kg out of the donor CLE and widened the body by 60 mm at each end for a far more planted stance. Carbon fibre is used almost everywhere: the fenders, the bonnet with its central cold-air intake, the roof, the sills, the rear apron with diffuser, the boot lid and the two-post adjustable rear wing. Polycarbonate rear glass and a lighter 12-volt battery chip away at the numbers further. Kerb weight lands at 1,895 kg with a 56/44 front-to-rear balance.
Underneath sits a steel coilover suspension co-developed with KW automotive, with four-way adjustable dampers that separate low-speed and high-speed rebound and compression. Braking comes from AMG Ceramic composite discs, 420 mm six-piston at the front and 360 mm single-piston at the rear, clamped by gold calipers. The forged wheels wear 305- and 335-section tyres derived from the Mercedes-AMG ONE.
Aero you physically bolt into Race mode
The aerodynamics are the giveaway that this is a track car first. The front diffuser bolts between two positions, Street and Race, with the latter meant strictly for circuit use, and the carbon rear wing adjusts to match. Louvred fenders, a near-fully enclosed front underbody and a finned flat floor help generate well over 250 kg of downforce at top speed.
Inside, the story is subtraction. There are no rear seats, no acoustic insulation and a simplified sound system, plus lightweight carbon door panels, racing bucket seats and a bolted-in roll bar. Even PARKTRONIC has been deleted. Six-point harnesses are an optional Performance Package.
Just 30 cars, and they are already gone
Here is the catch. The CLE 646 Spezialanfertigung is limited to 30 examples worldwide, each hand-built in Affalterbach on a CLE 53 base, and Mercedes confirms it was sold out before its world premiere. The PureSpeed ran to 250 cars; this one is more than eight times rarer.
“This vehicle came to life because highly rational engineers dreamed of a highly irrational car,” said Dr Stefan Weckbach, Chairman of the Management Board of Mercedes-AMG GmbH. “We turned that dream into reality in the form of maximum driving dynamics and an unparalleled driving experience.” Design boss Bastian Baudy points to the look: “Its bold proportions and the sheer size of the grille underscore the ambition to present a vehicle of extremes.”
AutoNext Take
This is the CLE we hoped the Mythos car would be. When we watched the prototype testing on Swedish ice, the open question was whether AMG would build a genuine driver's car or a badge exercise. Deleting 4MATIC+ answers it. Choosing rear-wheel drive on a 646 hp coupe is not the easy path, and it is not the fastest one in a straight line. It is the one that tells you AMG cares about how the car feels, not only what the numbers read.
There is a bittersweet edge. Thirty cars, all sold, most likely to collectors who will treat them as assets first and track toys second. That is the nature of the Mythos model, and it is the same tension we flagged with the PureSpeed. A car engineered this obsessively for the circuit deserves to be driven on one.
Still, this matters well beyond the 30 buyers. It is proof that Affalterbach still wants to build something irrational, lightweight and rear-driven while the rest of the range grows heavier and more electrified. In Mercedes-Benz's 140th year, a stripped-out, flat-crank V8 coupe is a sharp reminder of what AMG is actually for.
