The Mercedes-Benz C32 Sports Coupe came from AMG’s secret menu

Have you ever been to a popular fast-food chain or proper restaurant that has a secret menu? One that is only available to those in the know. As it turns out, this isn’t a phenomenon restricted to the hospitality industry as, in a round-about way, Mercedes-Benz tried the same act with a hot version of the W203 C-Class.

The rear-drive C32 Sedan, and to a lesser extent, the Estate are well known. But there is a go-fast Coupe version of the same ilk that also gains the AMG moniker. Except, it wasn’t a full production model. The process required buyers to place a special order via AMG STUDIO. The team would then convert the standard vehicle into a C32 Sports Coupe “to individual customer requirements at Mercedes-AMG in Affalterbach”.

It’s a technicality, but it’s not a traditional coupe either. The CL 203 offering is more of a three-door liftback. Essentially, Mercedes-Benz wanted a rival to the E36/E46 BMW 3 Series Compact. Both transitioned out of the body style and into proper two-door coupes.

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The special-order AMG is based on a Merc Sports Coupe and uses the same supercharged V6 found in the Sedan and Estate. Its 3199cc of swept capacity isn’t by chance considering BMW was using a 3.2-litre straight six at the time. The bent-six produces a healthy 260kW (6100rpm) and 450Nm thanks in part to the helical twin-screw type IHI supercharger. There is no three-pedal option, instead a five-speed automatic (AMG Speedshift) is tasked with shuffling gears.

The performance is brisk with a claimed 0-100km/h time of 5.2 seconds. It’ll hit 200km/h in 18.3 seconds before going on to an electronically limited top speed of 250km/h. According to a Mercedes-Benz press release at the time, the C32 Sports Coupe has “performance to rival thoroughbred sports cars”.

The C32 SC gains retuned springs and dampers with a drop in ride height (30mm) and beefed-up stabiliser bars. Visually there isn’t anything too crazy to signify its AMG talent, apart from the 18.0 x 8.5-inch front and 18.0 x 10.0-inch rear wheels. They’re wrapped in rather wide 245/40 and 275/35 tyres respectively.

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An offshoot to this program is the C30 CDI AMG. Yes, that’s right, a diesel, in fact the only oil-burner to be adorned with an AMG badge. Aesthetically identical to the C32 apart from its “V6 Kompressor” badging, the C30 is motivated by a 3.0-litre five-cylinder turbo diesel with 170kW and a giant-killing 540Nm.

However, the three-door-liftback genre never took off and the Sports Coupe was axed in 2011. The supercharged E32 ML version of the M112 V6 petrol engine could also be found in the Chrysler Crossfire SRT-6, which rides on Merc SLK underpinnings. Now that’s also a certain AMG secret-menu item.

2002 Mercedes-Benz C32 AMG SC specs