Author: Diana M. Cuyler

Back to the days of miami vice-era excess, life sometimes imitated art. Take the case of an enthusiast who found a Mercedes-Benz AMG Hammer Coupé that he had to have. After acquiring Andy Cohen’s rare chicken-tooth two-door from Beverly Hills Motoring, he embarked on a road trip to Las Vegas and soon got pulled over for speeding – no surprise , given the coupe’s highway-burning 6.0-liter V. -8. In any other decade, a speeding violation could have been the end of the story. But in the sordid spirit of the 80s, illicit substances were discovered during the arraignment and the man in question ended up behind bars, with the Hammer hot rod seized by the DEA. The car was then sold at a government auction to former Major League Baseball player Rob Deer, and swapped hands several times before landing in the hands of the current seller.

Untrained eyes might mistake this particular Benz for an unremarkable 300 CE, a fine but unremarkable car that can be easily found on the used market. But the so-called pre-merger AMG models, and in particular the legendary Hammer iterations, have become holy grails for Mercedes-Benz enthusiasts. AMG, before being acquired by Mercedes-Benz in 1999 and incorporated into the sprawling automaker’s portfolio, explored the outer limits of high-performance tuning through handcrafted engines and suspension components with a fanatical approach to tuning. workshop style. The hard work was revealed when you opened the hood, but these hopped-up models were otherwise hard to tell from the outside aside from the flashier wheels and subtle body mods. The crown jewel of AMG’s efforts was the Hammer, which saw around 30 examples worldwide and 13 sedans for the US market. Even rarer were the coupe iterations, of which about 5 exist; the only thing rarer is the Hammer wagon, which was built as a 1-on-1 car.

Mercedes-Benz AMG Hammer Coupe

The MB market

This is the first time a real hammer has been available in the United States through a US auction site. “The Hammer Coupe epitomizes everything we try to do,” says Blakley Leonard, founder of MB Market, whose online auction house is welcome the sale. “There’s no better pre-merger AMG than a real Hammer,” he said. Robb Report. “It’s exactly the type of car that excites us the most.”

Mercedes-Benz AMG Hammer Coupe from behind.

The MB market

This Hammer wears vintage 17-inch chrome one-piece wheels and vintage tires that will need to be replaced with modern rubber for added safety. The coupe rides on AMG-branded springs and dampers, AMG bumpers, skirts and spoiler, plus iconic ’80s bits like a Sony stereo with CD changer and leather seat covers of sheep. With 19,417 clicks on the odometer, the Hammer has plenty of miles ahead of it for those interested in ’80s-style motoring. But the buyer will have to be prepared to spend a pretty penny on the purchase. : With nearly a week left in the auction and current bids at $303,000, these ultra-rare AMGs have proven that desire only grows with age. And another word of warning: if you get overly excited about your new purchase on the highway, just be careful what you’re carrying in the trunk.

Click here to view all photos of the Mercedes-Benz AMG Hammer Coupe.

The MB market

THE proposal to sell land to the Royal Mail has been put on hold, the council have announced.

Senior councilors at Brighton and Hove City Council were to decide whether a long lease should be given to the Royal Mail for Patcham Court Farm.

The existing sorting offices at North Road, Brighton and Denmark Villas, Hove would be demolished and replaced by nearly 200 houses – 110 in Brighton and the remainder in Hove.

The announcement was met with backlash from Patcham residents, who described the plans as ‘breathtaking’ and said a new sorting office on Patcham Court Farm would have a negative impact on traffic and parking in the area.

On Friday, the council announced that a decision had been made to withdraw reports on the sale of Patcham Court Farm which were to be reviewed by advisers to the council’s Policy and Resources Committee.

‘This is so that officers can continue to explore all viable accommodation options at the sites released by Royal Mail and that advisers from all political groups can continue to listen and respond to the views of residents,’ the statement read. .

“It is imperative that councilors feel they have all the information and options available to them so that they can make an informed and fully considered decision about the future of Patcham Court Farm and securing Royal Mail jobs in the town.

“It will take longer to deliver.”

Earlier this week Labor said they were “appalled” by the council’s approach to the deal and called for a pause in proceedings.

“Labour councilors are disappointed with the half-hearted approach of the Greens, which seek to prioritize short-term gains from the sale of family silverware rather than responding to residents’ demands and tackling the crisis head-on housing,” says a statement from Labour.

“Selling council assets and land, without negotiating to extract sites in return for building affordable homes, is short-sighted and frankly a breach of duty by any serious party to addressing housing need in Brighton and Hove. ”

There have been a total of eight approaches for the Patcham site since the early 1990s, including a Royal Mail proposal in 2018.

The council says it has since worked with Royal Mail “to help them develop a program that consolidates their existing sorting office services” on the Patcham site.

Patcham advisers Alistair McNair and Anne Meadows received confidential notice of the plans on November 9 last year and launched a petition on January 24 this year.

Cllr McNair previously raised concerns about the plan.

‘The Royal Mail had four years to plan and residents have very little time to give feedback,’ he said.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “Our plans would create 85 staff parking spaces on site, along with 13 motorbike spaces and 40 bicycle spaces.

“We do not anticipate any pollution issues that have not been considered in our plans. Our proposed mitigation measures include acoustic fencing to limit the potential for noise pollution from the planned development.

“The proposed delivery office would be carbon neutral, on the way to net zero. A fleet of all-electric vehicles would be introduced.

“This proposed delivery office will enable us to continue to offer our customers the high standards they have come to expect from Royal Mail.”

Local residents were also expected to stage a protest against the plans on Sunday.