Mercedes-AMG Gets A New Face: The “Aggressive & Powerful” Panamericana Grille; But Will Be Available For Purebred Vehicles

Apr 18, 2017 05:30 AM EDT | Andrew Davis

There is a new face for the high-performance division of Mercedes-Benz. Screams "aggressive and powerful," the Panamericana grille will replace the current grilles of Mercedes-AMG's vehicles.

This particular vertical-bar grille first originated on the Mercedes-AMG GT sports car. But it was derived from the 1952 300 SL Panamericana race car, to which it was named after.

Daimler AG's Chief Design Officer, Gorden Wagener, has recently confirmed the company's plans in replacing the current grille designs of their vehicles with the Panamericana grille design. But this will be done as vehicles are either redesigned or added.

Also, Wagener added that to make the Panamerican grille design special, only those "purebred" AMG 63s and 65s with handcrafted engines will get the new face of the company. Thus, the automaker's 43 line of midrange performance vehicles will mostly be left as is.

Wagener elaborated that what "loved" about the Panamericana grille design is that it's a great new face for the company as it looks so aggressive and powerful. "It has that heritage in there, but in a modern way. It's not retro, but it still keeps that feeling of the vintage race cars," said Gorden Wagener.

The GT3 race car specifically received the re-invented Panamericana grille. And then, the automaker introduced it in 2016 on the production version of the Mercedes-AMG GT R sports car, which hits US dealerships this summer.

Also, during the 2017 New York Auto Show, the Panamericana grille design made its way to the Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 production model, for both coupe and SUV variants. The Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 4MATIC and, its more powerful version, the Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S 4MATIC, coupe and SUV versions, are set to go on sale by early 2018.

Both SUV and coupe versions are each equipped with a 4.0-liter biturbo V8 engine for the Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 4MATIC, delivering 476 horsepower. Meanwhile, SUV and Coupe models for the Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S 4MATIC each possess the same twin-turbo V8 engine. However, the power of the S-trim is at 510 horses.

The Panamericana grille design being the new face of Mercedes-AMG is the automaker's first signature design move into the non-GT lineup of AMG. What do you think of this new grille design set by AMG?

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