Origin: Sindelfingen, Germany
Engine: 8-Cylinder
Transmission: 5-Speed Automatic
The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is the flagship vehicle of Mercedes-Benz and is considered the world’s best-selling luxury sedan. The S stands for sonder, German for ‘special,’ because it in S-Class vehicles where Mercedes-Benz debuts all its latest innovations. Production for the S-Class technically began in 1954, although the S-Class name wasn’t adopted until 1972 with the W116 (280 SE, 450 SE, and 450 SEL in the U.S. market). It was then retroactively applied to the W180 (“Ponton”), W111/W112 (“Fintail”), and W108/W109 (250S, 250SE, 280S, 280SE, 300SE).
This particular model, the S 55 AMG, is a fourth generation S-Class produced from 2002-2005. It has a number of modifications over the base model S-Class that resulted in better overall performance and more dramatic styling features. The 55 in the name comes from a (almost) 5.5-liter supercharged V-8 engine with an astounding 493 hp. It also features the world’s first preemptive safety system, Pre-Safe.