1999 Mercedes-Benz C43 AMG

This is a highly original C43 AMG estate car with desirable all black leather interior in good condition. It has pneumatic and electric front seats with heating, and a Blaupunkt DAB stereo unit fitted. All the components are working and the wheels do not look to have been kerbed at all. It’s MoT’d until August 23 this year.

These are rare cars and one of the first produced after Mercedes-Benz had taken over AMG. This one is in very original condition, with the correct AMG wheels and bodykit fitted.

Despite these additions the C43 AMG is a bit of a Q car. It doesn’t shout performance, but it certainly delivers it, with 60mph coming up in just 6.3 seconds and a top speed of 165mph (with the limiter disabled).

‘The soundtrack it plays is classic Detroit V-8 muscle car, with some expensive-sounding harmonic whines mixed in,’ said Car and Driver magazine back in the day. ‘It's an aural delight, one that pleases the inner ear as well as the outer ear.’

There are some fairly minor but obvious faults that we’ll deal with first, primarily that the nearside rear light lens needs replacing as it’s damaged, and that there’s a dent in the lower section of the nearside rear door.

But the AMG styling additions, namely the front and rear bumpers and the side skirts, all look intact and in good condition, and the other exterior fittings and trims, like the chrome grille, three-pointed star and roof rails appear in good order too, with just some very tiny marks on the very leading edge of the bonnet.

The car sits on its original 17-inch 5-hole AMG alloy wheels, which are finished in silver with diamond cut outer rims. There are surface blemishes on outer edges of the wheels – not from kerbing but just where the lacquer has started to lift slightly.

The AMG’s seats are trimmed in black, which also adorns the steering wheel rim. While the driver’s seat bolster shows a bit of wear and usage, the upholstery doesn’t appear to show the same degree of wear that less cared for cars show at even lower mileages – it is in very good order. The steering wheel and dash area are also very nice.

The dash top, centre console and door trims are finished in a carbon fibre weave and the car has an upgraded Blaupunkt DAB stereo unit fitted. The white-faced AMG instruments remind you that you’re not in a bog-standard Merc. As far as we’ve been able to test, all the electrics and interior equipment work as they should, and the vender confirms this, although he also says that the air conditioning system needs regassing.

The black carpets are clean and intact throughout – the driver’s floor mat does have a heel wear hole though. Up above, the light coloured headlining appears spotless and well fitted. Overall the interior is in excellent order for a car of this age, and with a recolouring kit and some hide food we think the driver’s seat could easily look a lot better too.

The luggage area is also in excellent order, and the extending cover is intact and in very good shape. The correct full size spare wheel is also included. There is a period mobile phone holder fitted to the car’s cabin, plus a corresponding aerial on the offside rear side window.

The under bonnet area is generally very tidy for a car of this age. There is some surface corrosion on the alloy cam covers but these could be improved fairly easily if the new owner wanted to lift the level of the engine bay.

The last MoT certificate has an advisory relating to corrosion near the front offside jacking point area (a common fault on these due to blocked drain holes). This area is shown in the pictures and we’d recommend that the new owner deals with this immediately, as a stitch in time saves nine when it comes to corrosion. Sorted now it could well be a fairly minor repair.

There is a selection of historic bills with the car, plus old MoT certificates. It also comes with some service history and all the original handbooks. The vendor says:

‘The current owner of this AMG usually buys cars with some link to motor racing, and this model type was the F1 medical car for the seasons 1998-2000. This is a two owner car and it has been in the current owner's family since 2005 and is a matching numbers car and completely original.

‘The car was ideal for the Le Mans weekend. A very comfortable and fast car that can transport the camping paraphernalia for the 24h race weekend. The current owner was planning to restore the car to a pretty and usable regular driver, but the new ultra low emissions zone (ULEZ) area has now made this impractical.

‘The car comes with some basic history – it was serviced by a family friend and always with Mobil 1 fully synthetic oil to keep the engine clean – so receipts are limited. The car appears to have all of its original 300+ BHP and is very quick and a wonderful drive – 147k miles is not high for this type of vehicle.

‘What marks out the C43 AMG as no normal C Class are the major changes to the car; it is lower than the normal C Class on completely reworked AMG suspension, with race inspired camber to help its handling. It rides on 245s at the rear and 225s on the front on unique AMG rims that complement the matching body kit.

‘It stops well too as the wheels are fully filled by uprated (very large) brakes. All this and the mighty AMG 4.3 litre V8 engine. This car was one of the first fully Mercedes owned AMG models. The MoT in July 2022 also came with a service, new battery, new fuel filters and some minor light repairs. The car has run very well since. The car was garaged during its less used storage period.’

There are some cosmetic bodywork repairs needed on this car (the dent in the rear door and rear light lens that needs replacing). But the paint is otherwise good, and the small area of concern underneath, if caught now, could be a pretty simple job.

We think this is a good, simple project to bring to a very attractive status. It’s also one of the rarest modern classic Mercedes cars in the UK today, and a very fast, practical and useable one at that. There aren’t many cars that can whisk you to Ikea at the kind of pace this AMG is capable of, but can still accommodate that new mattress you just bought there.

We estimate this vehicle to fetch between £5,000 - £10,000 in auction.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; we are open weekdays 9am-5pm, to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.