Limited edition Mercedes-AMG GT3 Edition 50 revealed

Usually, turning 50 means slowing down. Not for AMG.

The Affalterbach-based Mercedes performance arm has celebrated its half-century milestone by announcing the release of an exclusive AMG GT3 car, the Edition 50.

Only five will be made, so it’s likely all of them will have sold (whether officially or not) in the time it has taken to read this news story. Or sooner.

AMG says last year’s quadruple victory at the 24 Hours Nurburgring race has made the Mercedes-AMG GT3 car one of the most successful customer racing cars in the world.

“It forms the basis for an extraordinary special model which Mercedes-AMG is issuing to mark its 50th birthday.”

The GT3 Edition 50 will get a special paint colour for the accents, ‘True Black’, which is contrasted with a shade of matte grey, as well as special badging, and carbon fibre for the front diffuser and rear diffusers, the rear aerofoil, the flics at the front, the air intakes, the radiator grille and the side skirts.

Inside, the GT3 Edition 50 cops a racing fitout, with a roll cage, carbon fibre-shelled seats, silver six-point seat belts, and AMG logos in the doors and sill.

Unlike the road-going AMG GT, the GT3 uses the ultimate version of AMG's former 6.2-litre naturally-aspirated V8, which produces up to 485kW though is usually run heavily restricted to ensure parity.

Each car will also be adorned with an "Edition 50 -1 of 5" badge.

In a statement, AMG said it believes it will crack “the barrier of 100,000 units” by the end of 2017, as strong sales in the first quarter kindled optimism.

“However, the strategic broadening of the portfolio in past years has also resulted in the successful development of new groups of customers,” the company says.

“Another factor is the worldwide success of the popular eight-cylinder models in the 63 series, and the 45 series models in the compact segment.”