Mercedes-AMG Celebrates 50 Years With Special GT Variant 'Edition 50'; BMW Congratulates Rival With Huge Billboard

This year marks the 50^th anniversary of Mercedes-AMG and the brand is celebrating with a special variant of GT called "Edition 50." Meanwhile, BMW congratulates its rival through a huge billboard.

This 2017, Mercedes-AMG is celebrating its 50 years of creating unique performance vehicles and powerful sports car. It was in 1967 that the brand's engineers Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher left Mercedes-Benz and created the AMG that was first known as "AMG Motorenbau und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH."

Aufrecht and Melcher rented a barn in Burgstall an der Murr to develop the AMG. The two engineers started the powerful AMG series in the headquarter near Stuttgart and the name AMG came from their surname initials, A and M, and added G for Grossapach, which is the hometown of Aufrecht.

It was on Jan. 1, 1999 that the new company of Aufrecht and Melcher acquired 51 percent of AMG shares from Mercedes. This resulted to the birth of Mercedes-AMG, which was later became a full subsidiary of Daimler AG in January 2005.

Designed for the launch of the GT3 Edition 50: the Ingenieur Chronograph Sport Edition "50th anniversary of Mercedes-AMG" by @IWC #24hAMG pic.twitter.com/gGnsQYCeXC

— Mercedes-AMG (@MercedesAMG) May 27, 2017

To celebrate the 50^th anniversary, Mercedes is releasing a special variant of the GT3 called "Edition 50." The anniversary model will have a unique paint job that has not been used in AMG models. The "Edition 50" will come with a matte paint for the side skirts, radiator grille, air intakes, and the front and rear diffusers made of carbon fiber.

Furthermore, the disc band and rear aerofoil will have the AMG logo as a distinctive mark of the anniversary model. There is also a special lettering on the seatbelts and on the bespoke car cover that reads, "50 YEARS OF DRIVING PERFORMANCE."

Whereas, the restrictor was already removed while an open Performance exhaust system has now been included to improve the performance of the special edition model.

On the inside, the cabin has a "real black shade" for clearer floor assembly visibility. There is also a matte black carbon fiber accents on the dashboard, sills, door panels, and the center console.

Mercedes-AMG GmbH chairman of the board of management Tobias Moers shared the brand's vision for the future. Moers said, "Our task now is not just to celebrate the AMG success story, but, in one of the most exciting periods of automotive history, to help shape the performance of the future."

Meanwhile, BMW gave out its congratulatory efforts to Mercedes. The rival made a giant billboard at the Nurburgring track in Germany that contains a message saying, "You ordered cake, we made donuts. M congratulates AMG on its 50^th anniversary."