GHOSTS: All AMG's should look like this - The Hammer.

Shoehorning a larger motor in a small car is nothing new. Some of the greatest cars of all time are products of this type of Frankenstein-ing. In the 80s, if you had a Mercedes, you were a yuppy. If you had an AMG, you were a connoisseur. Before the days where you could waltz into any Merc dealer with a big bag of money and take home an AMG, there was a process. First you had to buy a Mercedes. Then you had to make arrangements to meet with AMG to have your car kitted out. Then you had to wait. Sometimes a few weeks. Sometimes a few months. Sometimes a year. When and if AMG met with you, the sky was the limit. But it wasn't like adding an air intake to your car. To get an AMG built car meant you were rich; really rich.

AMG had a funny habit of pissing off Mercedes in the 80s by jamming S class V8s into their customers Mercedes'. Whenever Mercedes would redesign their big V8s, AMG would take that engine and make it bigger, badder, and faster. In 1988, AMG made one of the greatest cars of all time, the Hammer widebody coupe. The car that forced Mercedes &AMG to play nice with each other.

The 300CE was the coupe version of the W124 E Class. Introduced in 1984, the E class came in a few versions - sedan, wagon, coupe, and convertible. AMG got their hands dirty with all the versions, but the best one is the coupe.

On the outside, AMG had to remove every Mercedes Benz logo, which I am sure Mercedes regrets to this day. MB did not want any AMG car to represent them, so AMG blacked out the front grill, removed all the logos on the custom ducktail rear deck lid and embossed the AMG logo on their instead, got rid of the Benz wheels opting for beautiful 3 piece wheels that still look oh so good today, and the pièce de résistance - that beautifully delectable and mouth watering widebody.

Under the hood, a bored out 6.0L V8 capable of rocketing the mighty Benz over 300kmh. Unfortunately, never available with a manual transmission, the 4 speed transmission taken from the S class feels archaic today, but doesn't that add to the charm of the car?

"The Hammer" name was actually given to the W124 300E sedan AMG had breathed on in 1986, because it was so damn good, it hammered all competition to the ground. In the 80s, 300kmh (186mph) was a speed only supercars could do. Guess what, the 300E sedan did that. Not bad for a 1988 family sedan, right?

The interior is draped with wood trim and the centerpiece is a pair of the most 1980s seats of all time - massively bolstered Recaro seats with a video game controller for 19 ways of adjustment. The steering wheel is nice and thin and is devoid of an airbag. The gauges are standard Mercedes of the time - legible and classy - never gonna go out of style. One of the nicest features of the E class is the lack of a B-pillar, so with all the windows down, you have a wonderful open air cabin.

The Hammer coupe was so damn good and memorable that Mercedes was tired of AMG taking all their R&D and building better cars. In 1990, they agreed to team up and became the exclusive supplier for AMG. AMG would have all the resources of Mercedes to play with and Mercedes would make a killing selling hand built AMG land rockets out of their dealerships.

In 1988, it would cost you $165k to get a Hammer. That's $350,000 in 2019 money. According to those in the know, only 12 Hammer coupes ever were produced. This car definitely bring us back to a time before the modern supercar; when supercars were as rare as flying dogs, and any time you saw something this special, it was an occasion. It gave you a story. It was something that would be burned into your memory.

The Hammer coupe is so rare, that you most likely will never see one in your entire life.

Truly making it a GHOST.