Mercedes-AMG®
The history of AMG: 45 years of driving performance.
Out of passion for motor sports.
The story of AMG begins with two Daimler-Benz engineers. Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher worked in the Daimler-Benz Group’s development department in the 1960s and prepared the 300 SE racing engine – until Mercedes-Benz suspended all motorsport activities. The two young men then decided to go it alone – and quickly established their own engineering firm. While Aufrecht was passionately interested in motorsport, Melcher was well known for his brilliance in the field of engine development. Their company was regarded as a daring enterprise at that time: Many people saw the modification of something as perfect a Mercedes as verging on sacrilege.
The start-up firm “AMG Engineering Office, Construction and Testing for the Development of Racing Engines” was born on June 1, 1967. The name AMG comes from the first letters of the founders’ family names followed by G for Großaspach – the town where Aufrecht was born. The small team’s first premises were in a garage in Burgstall, until the firm moved to nearby Affalterbach in 1976. This was followed by years of rapid growth: AMG equipped more and more Mercedes-Benz models with high-performance technology and entered a new field of business with the individualization of customers’ automobiles. The brand became so successful that it quickly attracted the keen interest of Mercedes-Benz AG. A cooperation agreement was signed in 1990, before DaimlerChrysler AG became the majority shareholder in 1999 and the sole shareholder and parent company of AMG in 2005.
The spirit of the founders – with a clear focus on motorsport and innovative engineering – is still our predominant feature. Daimler AG, our parent company, clearly recognizes that the great expertise, the independent location close to the Mercedes-Benz headquarters and the dynamic nature of such a focused company are advantages that must be utilized. From the original idea of Aufrecht and Melcher, a company has grown that promotes our internationally successful high-performance brand with more than 1,100 passionate employees, 500 of whom are engineers.
