The Mercedes-AMG GT Motorsport Collector’s Edition Looks Just Like Lewis Hamilton’s F1 Car*

Ah, the motorsport-inspired special edition. Depending on how you look at them, they’re either a way for car manufacturers to show their dedication and love for the racing series they compete in or a way of tricking people into thinking they have something extra special by throwing a corporate paint job at a couple of hundred cars and charging a few extra grand. On a completely unrelated note, here’s the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 Pro “Motorsport Collector’s Edition.”

Now, if we were being deeply cynical about it, we’d say it was just the new Mercedes-AMG GT 63, in more powerful, aero-optimised Pro guise, bedecked in a livery that’s essentially a subliminal advert for engine oil and saddled with a particularly unwieldy name (we’ve even shortened it above – Merc itself slaps a ‘4MATIC+’ in there too).

We’d never be cynical, though, so let’s take everything at face value. The “Motorsport Collector’s Edition” (Merc’s quotation marks, not ours) is mechanically unchanged from the standard AMG GT Pro, but that’s no bad thing. It means it packs a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, pushing out 604bhp and 627lb ft of torque, making for a 3.2-second 0-62mph dash and a 197mph top speed.

It also gets standard carbon-ceramic brakes, Active Ride Control adaptive damping, and a Pro-specific aero kit that contributes to a 30kg reduction in front axle lift over the regular GT 63. On the MCE, you get some further optional kit thrown in as standard, including the posh Burmester sound system, exterior carbon fibre package and panoramic roof.

Then, of course, is the real reason this is going to cost more than a regular Pro (although how much more, we don’t know): that livery. The star pattern along the car's flanks, inspired by the one on Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s current company cars, is hand painted. The car is also rife with flashes of the corporate turquoise of the Merc F1 team’s title sponsor, Malaysian oil company Petronas, extending right down to the brake callipers.

You’ll find more of this shade inside, along with – tick this one off your special edition bingo card – a numbered plaque, indicating that you have one of the 200 editions, you lucky so-and-so. Where do you reckon this ranks in the pantheon of racing-inspired cash-gra… sorry, special editions?