WHEN RED PIGS FLY
Stu_John
Jay_Groa
The defining moment for AMG, the tiny German tuning company that evolved to become Mercedes-Benz’s in-house high-performance subsidiary, came about at the end of a damp weekend in the Ardennes forest region in Belgium, half a century ago.
After 24 hours of racing on the challenging Spa-Francorchamps Grand Prix circuit, a bellowing beast, nicknamed the Red Pig, came within a whisker of winning the 5th round of the prestigious European Touring Car Championship in 1971.
The moniker referred to the red colour scheme AMG had chosen for the car and because the vehicle, showcasing its race-engineering craft, was the most unlikely of front-runners; a massive Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL full-sized sedan running a bellowing 6,8-litre V8 engine.
The Merc was up against no fewer than eight nimble BMW 2800 CSs that were highly favoured to win, along with two Ford Capri RS 2600s, the toast of European endurance racing at the time. Driver line-ups boasted luminaries such as Niki Lauda and Jochen Mass; both would soon graduate to
