It wasn’t until the very end of the first-generation Mercedes-AMG GT’s production run that the maniacs in Affalterbach came out with the GT Black Series model, which to this day is still the most intense performance I’ve experience on a canyon road. CLK GTR aside, the GT Black Series was by far the most extreme road car we had seen from Mercedes in terms of track performance — it’s still the third-fastest production car to lap the Nürburgring.
Most people, myself included, would’ve expected that it would be years before we’d see a new GT Black Series. The second-gen AMG GT has only been out for a couple years, and up until now the most extreme versions are the GT63 S E Performance plug-in hybrid and the GT63 Pro, neither of which are as wild as the old GT R was. We haven’t even seen a race car of the new GT yet, as Mercedes has still been running cars based on the old-gen coupe in the GT3 class, which still use the old 6.2-liter V8!
And yet, a new AMG GT Black Series is coming very soon, and unlike the old car, it’s genuinely linked to the GT3 race car, serving as the homologation model for it. We saw glimpses of the new GTs in the form of the Track Sport concept last year, but now Mercedes is releasing actually good photos of camouflaged versions of both the GT3 race car (the one with red accents) and the Black Series production car (the one with yellow accents). Maybe even better than the photos is the weird-ass reveal video embedded above. Never change, Mercedes marketing department.
The Black Series has more active aero
It’s pretty amazing how close the two cars actually look. Both race car and road car have a totally unique, much wider body compared to a regular GT, with a longer hood and dash-to-axle ratio. They both have a massive swan-neck wing, side-exit exhaust, and a very serious rear diffuser. Neither have a rear window, instead having a blank panel like the Manthey kit for the 911 GT3 RS (though without a cool tailfin), with the CHMSL and rear camera integrated on the panel for the Black Series. The road car even has a wiper that sits in the center of the windshield and a plexiglass side windows with a race car opening for the driver; I’m guessing the latter will be an option not offered in the States.
Mercedes-AMG
The only real tells in these photos that the yellow car is the Black Series and not the GT3 are the Michelin road tires, the fancy headlights, the sensors in the windshield and the lack of a roll cage. Oh, and the fact that the Black Series has even wilder aerodynamics than the race car is allowed to given GT3 regulations. The road car’s Panamericana grille has a strange center bar and widely spaced vertical strakes, and unlike the race car there are giant canards at the front corners. Its exhaust sits just ahead of the rear wheels instead of just behind the front wheels, too.
One of the coolest features of the Black Series are something not seen in those photos. Luckily for us, these prototypes have already been spotted driving around the Nürburgring this week. Instagram user Stéphan Barral posted a bunch of photos of the car up close, including the second photo in the above carousel where we can see the Black Series has active aero flaps above the front fenders, like those on the AMG One. I’m guessing there are even more differences underneath the camo.
They’re both coming soon
The last-gen GT Black Series’ twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 featured a flat-plane crank, and the new one will as well, but that’s not just a Black Series thing. While still being the same basic engine, all of Mercedes’ new V8s are heavily updated and feature a flat-plane crank, including in the facelifted S-Class. Expect that bit of kit to be added to normal GTs eventually. We’ve got no real details on anything else beyond AMG boss Michael Schiebe saying, “We are developing the most extreme Black Series ever. At the same time, we want to set the next record-breaker in motorsport with the future GT3. At AMG, we develop vehicles to exceed expectations. And that is exactly what the future Black Series and the new GT3 will do.” If I had to guess, I’d say the new Black Series will have well over 800 horsepower, given how the last one made do with just 720. I doubt there will be a hybrid system, though there’s a chance it could get one akin to the setup in the Porsche 911 GTS.
There’s no word on debut date for either car, but with the GT3 set to enter competition in 2027, and the Black Series looking very ready for the wraps to come off, both should be revealed this year, probably sooner rather than later. When it launches, there won’t be many cars that it truly competes with — or that will come close to its likely track performance. A facelift for Porsche’s 911 GT3 RS is probably coming in the next twelve months, but the upcoming turbocharged GT2 RS may have been canceled. The Chevy Corvette ZR1X is fast as hell, yet still over a second slower around the ‘Ring than the old Black Series. There is one exciting competitor: Toyota’s new GR GT, a bespoke front-engine supercar built to go GT racing. Though we haven’t seen a version of the GR GT that’s quite as extreme as the Black Series, I have to imagine Toyota is working on one. I can’t wait to see the comparison tests.
