Photo: Porsche/ SB Medien Image Edited by autoevolution
With a gestation period that started more than two years ago, the upcoming Mercedes-Benz AMG GT (C190) is arguably the most expected sportscar wearing the three-pointed star since the SLS AMG was unveiled back in 2009.
So far, all that is was known for sure about the model was its choice of powerplant, the fact that it will also sport an aluminium spaceframe body and the fact that it was designed to go up against mainly the Porsche 911.
Well, we recently had a chat with one of our Stuttgart insiders and he exclusively gave us a rather interesting bit of information: the AMG GT (C190) will not try to steal sales from the Porsche 911, because it is actually based on the Porsche 911 (991)!
To be more specific, the Porsche 911 platform has been turned backwards, with the engine mounts being pushed inside the wheelbase for a better weight distribution, which in turn gave the AMG GT that long hood, while also taking the rear seats out of the equation.
Remember the pack of pre-production AMG GT models getting benchmarked against a Porsche 911 Turbo S from a few weeks ago? Well, the fact that the cars are related is one of the reasons for them doing winter testing together.
This is also precisely why yesterday we spotted an AMG GT (C190) prototype making rounds of the Nurburgring Nordschleife while sporting a Porsche license plate.
For purists, one of the downsides of using a Porsche 911 platform fitted backwards will probably relate to the fact that the Mercedes-Benz AMG GT will be... gasp!... front-wheel drive in the base version, while the transmission will have only one forward gear and no less than seven reverse gears.
The seemingly unbelievable pieces of information above were given to us by a very reliable source, a man who is highly known as a consultant to both companies involved – as they are both Stuttgart-based - and some of you might have heard of him already: his surname is Dr. Ing. Zuerstapril.
Well, we recently had a chat with one of our Stuttgart insiders and he exclusively gave us a rather interesting bit of information: the AMG GT (C190) will not try to steal sales from the Porsche 911, because it is actually based on the Porsche 911 (991)!
To be more specific, the Porsche 911 platform has been turned backwards, with the engine mounts being pushed inside the wheelbase for a better weight distribution, which in turn gave the AMG GT that long hood, while also taking the rear seats out of the equation.
Remember the pack of pre-production AMG GT models getting benchmarked against a Porsche 911 Turbo S from a few weeks ago? Well, the fact that the cars are related is one of the reasons for them doing winter testing together.
This is also precisely why yesterday we spotted an AMG GT (C190) prototype making rounds of the Nurburgring Nordschleife while sporting a Porsche license plate.
For purists, one of the downsides of using a Porsche 911 platform fitted backwards will probably relate to the fact that the Mercedes-Benz AMG GT will be... gasp!... front-wheel drive in the base version, while the transmission will have only one forward gear and no less than seven reverse gears.
The seemingly unbelievable pieces of information above were given to us by a very reliable source, a man who is highly known as a consultant to both companies involved – as they are both Stuttgart-based - and some of you might have heard of him already: his surname is Dr. Ing. Zuerstapril.
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