Mercedes-AMG GT R Black Series expected, but no 'Pro' for Australia

Mercedes-Benz Australia has decided not to throw its hat into the ring for an allocation of the limited-edition AMG GT R Pro, but an even faster AMG GT R Black Series is expected to appear in 2020.

The GT R Pro is a circuit-focused version of AMG’s flagship sports car, using revised suspension settings, more aero and the new AMG Dynamics program, but according to M-B Australia customer demand wasn’t particularly high.

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“We didn’t have a huge uptake on GT R Pro,” Mercedes-Benz PR boss Jerry Stamoulis tells MOTOR. “That’s due to a couple of reasons. Based on customer feedback and what we know about our AMG customers, they’re happy with a GT R.

“The GT R is great on road and on track as well, and realistically a lot of customers who want to go that little bit harder on a racetrack, they’ll opt for a GT3 or GT4 (race car). So the [local] uptake was low for GT R Pro and with only 750 units they got snapped up pretty quickly.”

One reason that potential customers have kept their wallets tucked away for now is the long-rumoured Black Series. Mules have been spotted lapping the Nurburgring for some time but the arrival of the GT R Pro seemed to solve that riddle, but even wilder prototypes continue to pound around.

Stamoulis would neither confirm nor deny its existence but said: “A lot of our customers know our history about making something that maybe a little more powerful or dynamic or both and so they’re holding out.”

AMG boss Tobias Moers went further, telling Autocar recently that the GT Black Series will be the fastest accelerating AMG ever, at least until the arrival of the F1-engine AMG One hypercar.

Concrete details are few, but sources close to Mercedes have hinted the GT Black Series will be a significant step above the regular GT range and the new 470kW/900Nm AMG GT 4-door 63 S provides an indication of the ultimate power potential of the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8.

In other GT news, the facelifted range, including GT S, GT C and GT R, is expected to land in Australia in Q3 2019.