Junkyard Gem: 1999 Mercedes-Benz C43 AMG

As I’ve learned from my years

poking around in big American self-service wrecking yards

, high-end European machinery loses its value in a hurry when it gets into the hands of owners who don’t take care of all those pesky maintenance items. Yes, once an

S8

or

745Li

is allowed to deteriorate, the cold steel jaws of The Crusher await. You’d think that genuine, numbers-matching

AMGs

would be exempt from this remorseless process, but nope, here’s an extremely rare

W202 C43

in a Denver-self-service yard.

I checked the VIN, and this is the real thing, not just a badge-swapped clone. Sure, it’s no

AMG Mitsubishi Debonair

, but just 546 of these cars were sold in the United States in 1999. Total C43 sales over here came to a mere 1,147 units.

The 4.3-liter V8 in the C43 made 302 horsepower, making it the most powerful

W202 C-Class

available. This engine sits so low because some canny junkyard shopper has removed the AMG-modified 5-speed automatic transmission.

I’m guessing this car wasn’t too rough when it first arrived at this junkyard, but forklift drivers and successive waves of parts pullers have torn it up pretty well.

Still, the interior needed olfactory assistance towards the end of its life, and we can assume that an accumulation of unresolved electrical and mechanical problems lowered the car’s resale value still more. I

found a CLK 55 AMG

at this very yard, a few years back, and I’m sure more fully

depreciated

AMGs will arrive in the future.