All language subtitles for Supercar.Superbuild.S02E03.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-RAWR_track4_[eng]

(engine rumbling)

- [Narrator] They're known
for building Autobahn burners,

(engine rumbling)

hot-rodding Mercedes,

and handcrafting incredible engines.

(dramatic music)

AMG,

(engine rumbling)
(tires screech)

three letters that define high performance

for the oldest car company in the world.

- [Worker] Yeah. (speaking
in foreign language)

- [Translator] It is the best

and most expensive from Mercedes-Benz.

You get to come in here every morning

and build the best car.

- [Narrator] Now Mercedes fastest division

is stepping out on its own

building just their second
machine from the ground up.

(engine roaring)

- AMG has to prove that
it has the capability

of building cars that
compete with supercars.

- [Narrator] To be the best,
they have to beat the best.

(engine roaring)

- The AMG GT is 100% clearly
targeted at the Porsche 911.

- [Narrator] Knocking off
the reigning sports car champ

comes down to a single machine.

- When you're just doing a halo car,

it has to be perfect.

(engine roaring)
(upbeat music)

(tires screeching)

- [Narrator] A can't miss project

called the Mercedes AMG GT.

(engine rumbling)

(air whooshing)

(upbeat music)
(engine rumbling)

(tires screeching)

(upbeat music)

Deep in Southwestern Germany

stands the largest Mercedes-Benz
facility in the world.

Welcome to Sindelfingen.

- It's a romantic factory.
It is a historic factory.

We just celebrated the 100th anniversary

of the plant itself.

- [Narrator] The facility opens
in 1916 to build airplanes.

Three years later, they
start producing cars.

(upbeat music continues)

And nearly a century later,

they built over 20 million machines.

There is nothing small about Sindelfingen.

Today, the site covers more
than 500,000 square meters.

That's roughly the size of Vatican City.

At Sindelfingen, they not only build cars,

but also design and engineer them.

(upbeat music)

The company's main R&D
center is located here.

(machine whirring)

- And Sindelfingen is special
compared to other plants

because you have head of development.

The design center is on this plant side.

- [Narrator] It's part factory
and part suburban city.

Every day over 37,000 craftspeople
called this place home.

- We are the only one
who work at this class

and it's very special to work here.

- [Narrator] Each year they crank out

nearly 400,000 machines,

including the C, E, and S class models.

(Gabriele speaking in foreign language)

- When you're there and
you can help build it

it does make you proud,

and you tell your circle
of friends, "Look,

we make that car, I am part of it."

- [Narrator] But hidden
on the second floor

of building 3/10 is a handcrafted oasis.

(upbeat music)

- Our focus is the car,
and sending the car.

Efficiency is not number one.

- Nat This is where they
build the Mercedes AMG GT,

the newest sports car from the most famous

three pointed star in
the automotive world.

- When Mercedes makes a sports
car, they take it seriously,

and that's what the AMG division
of the company exists for.

- [Narrator] The AMG GT
is a lighter, faster,

and smaller Mercedes supercar

designed to beat the
venerable Porsche 911.

Bringing it to life requires a uniquely

dedicated team of craftspeople.

- [Translator] Working on
small production series

is very different than large production.

- It's handmade, handcrafted.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] Building a Mercedes by hand

isn't just an occupation,
often it's a family obsession.

- My grandpas work at body shop,

my aunt was working at
E-Class, and I work here.

(dramatic music continues)

(Selouk speaking in foreign language)

- [Translator] I'm proud to
work here as my father has,

and I like it at Mercedes.

- [Narrator] Pride goes back a long way.

(Jaqeline speaking in foreign language)

- [Translator] Mercedes stands for cars

because we invented the car.

(dramatic music continues)

- [Narrator] In 1885, German
inventor Carl Benz has an idea.

He bolts a small engine
onto a three wheeled wagon.

The result is the world's first car.

The vehicle revolutionizes humanity

and his company lays the
foundation for Mercedes-Benz.

Today, it's a global behemoth

that builds more than one
million new cars per year.

Each one instilling a sense of passion

in the next generation.

(engines rumbling)

- [Translator] As soon
my three year old son

sees the star when we're
driving on the highway,

"Dad, your car!"

(Jaqueline speaking in foreign language)

- [Translator] When I see
a Mercedes on the street

and I know that I worked on it too,

and one feels proud that one
works for such a company.

(upbeat music)

(tools whirring and thudding)

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] On a mass
production assembly line,

workers often have just a
minute or two to do one task.

Crafts people on the GT line are asked

to carry out multiple
assignments per cycle

and have far more time.

The intricacy adds another
layer of attraction.

(Alex speaking in foreign language)

- [Translator] I had heard
that the AMG GT was coming.

It would be a challenge for me

because one has to work on
many things at one time.

(tools whirring)

- [Narrator] Complexity
on the line underscores

the team's competitive nature.

(engine roaring)

(Gabriele speaking in foreign language)

- [Translator] I think that this model

or this car in particular

offers a challenge in a competition.

(engine roaring)

- [Narrator] That competition

lies just 30 kilometers across town.

(Alex speaking in foreign language)

- [Translator] We should be proud

that the GT stands up to the Porsche

because it's competitor of Porsche

and the GT is an amazing car
in my mind, beautiful car.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] The oldest
car company in the world

is now taking the sports car fight

directly to Porsche's doorstep.

- You think about 'em like two boxers.

One is the methodical,

the AMG is that brawler, just gets inside

and just starts digging at the body

and just hits as hard as it can.

(engine roaring)

- [Narrator] For years, the
hard-hitting AMG philosophy

is to hammer the horsepower.

(engine roaring)

- One of the most prolific
AMGs was nicknamed the Hammer,

if that gives you an idea about

what their development philosophy's like.

(engine roaring)

- [Narrator] But in an ultra competitive

automotive environment,
high horsepower alone

is no longer enough.

Now AMG must take the
next evolutionary step

and build their very own machine.

How they choose to do it
comes down to the word

of just one mouth.

(upbeat music)

For nearly half a century,

AMG has been hot rodding Mercedes,

- They were about big power
and going fast on the Autobahn.

- [Narrator] The quest for big power

starts with a bold gamble.

In 1967, two Mercedes-Benz engineers

decide to strike out on
their own to build race cars.

(dramatic music)
(engine whirring)

- The founders of the company,

Mr. Aufrecht, Mr. Melcher,

they left Mercedes and
founded AMG as a new company.

- [Narrator] Four years
later, the two founders

take a hot rodded 6.8 liter 300 SEL

affectionately nicknamed the Red Pig

and go racing at the 24 hours of Spa.

(upbeat music continues)

- AMG was born on the racetrack
in '67, long, long ago.

(upbeat music continues)
(engines whirring)

- [Narrator] When the Red
Pig crosses the finish line,

it wins its class.

The victory puts AMG on the
path to automotive immortality

and crystallizes the myth

of the mighty Bavarian engine tuner.

- Mercedes realizes
there's some potential here

and starts goods and joint ventures.

- Eventually, Mercedes-Benz
said, "We'll just buy these guys

and we'll have our own
in-house performance division."

(engine roaring)

- [Narrator] Today that high
performance division is known

for building full blown Autobahn burners.

And even on the factory
floor, the pride is evident.

(soft music)

(Manform speaking in foreign language)

- [Translator] I'm attaching
the components to the motor.

Lines, accelerator,
water hoses, et cetera.

Everything else that an engine gets.

It's definitely more exciting

to work on an engine like this, The AMG.

The challenge is also
much, much, much greater.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] Over the years, the hard work

handcrafting engines pays off.

- You know when you hear
AMG, you're getting the one

that makes all the noise and the smoke

and spin tires and does all the fun stuff.

- The real magic of AMG is the
crazy guys behind the scenes.

I mean, these are real car
guys. They love to be sideways.

They love to go fast.
They love to have fun.

(dramatic music continues)

- [Narrator] Real car
guys that are hellbent

on proving their engineering metal

in the most contested
sports car space available.

- If you want proof, new capabilities

then you have to move into a segment

which is very competitive,

(engine roaring)

- [Narrator] Their new
entry is the AMG GT,

a machine born to defeat just one car.

- It is 100% the Porsche 911.

Is that a car you want
to pick a fight with?

I don't really know.

- [Narrator] The man starting
that brawl is Tobias Moers.

- And it's obviously a segment
which stands for sports cars

with some history from other brands

who wanted to face the competition.

- Tobias is the head of Mercedes AMG.

He is hot rodder and chief.

- Tobias is a salt of the earth dude

Who loves to get down and dirty.

He's not a corporate
executive who's concerned

with profitability and finance, all that.

- So a lot of times someone
in position is really expected

to really be out there,
you know, shaking hands

and kissing babies, and Tobias has managed

to just stay a really
straight to the point

hot rodder who wants to make awesome cars.

- [Narrator] Moers begins working for AMG

in the early '00s and quickly
moves through the ranks.

- By the end of the day
it's your own opinion

and it's always how we would
like to drive that car.

(engine roaring)
(tires screeching)

- [Narrator] It's an auto attitude

that comes to define the AMG badge.

- I do have my specific
opinion how a car should feel.

(engine roaring)

You have to have a
philosophy behind your cars.

(engine roaring)

- [Narrator] That
philosophy begins a decade

earlier with a different
machine, the Mercedes SLS.

- In the far is obviously the SLS.

We started engineering
work with the SLS in 2006,

brought the car to market in 2010.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] The SLS marks the first time

that AMG designs a car from the ground up.

- Giving them a ton of money to develop

an all new car for themselves,

it's a risky business proposition

and it's messing with the status quos.

- [Narrator] Until this point, every AMG

is a higher performance variant

of a regular Mercedes vehicle.

The SLS marks the beginning of AMG

standing on its own.

- We really start to see AMG breaking away

and becoming its own
core division in the SLS.

It was a car design by and for AMG.

- [Narrator] When the SLS debuts,

the heady looks and gulling
doors blow people away.

- The SLS was the supercar
that was really expensive.

It only had two seats. It had
crazy doors that opened up.

It looked like nothing else.

It really was a showstopper.

- [Narrator] The 200,000 euro price tag

thrusts the brand into a
new financial stratosphere.

(engine roaring)

- When you start trying to
align it up with the market,

you find it doesn't really fit
in against certain targets.

You kind of wonder if
some customers were like,

"Well, do I spend this
much money on the 911 Turbo

or to jump up to the SLS?"

- Mercedes-Benz had
lots of expensive cars,

but that was really pushing it.

Whether or not a a
Mercedes-Benz automobile

can play in that atmosphere.

- [Narrator] While the SLS is a marvel,

it's not a volume selling machine.

During its four year run,

they moved just over 10,000 vehicles.

That's less than 1% of
the brand's annual output.

- It took a lot of
fighting to build that SLS.

Once that car proved what AMG could do

and proved that the business
opportunity was there,

then the floodgates were opening.

(soft music)

- [Narrator] By the time
the SLS hits the market,

Tobias already sets his
sights on another goal:

defeating the 911.

- It's an engineering driven company.

We know what we could do better.

We had the idea for the
GT in mid '10, end of '10.

Yeah, and the idea was what is next? Huh?

A task, what always drives us.

You know, what is next?

Then the idea come up to move
into a different segment.

(engine roaring)

- Mercedes-Benz has figured out that

the most competitive market is just below

the real crazy super car market.

(engine roaring)

- [Narrator] Targeting
their local adversary

doesn't begin with pen and paper,

but rather with a single
engineering question:

where to put the engine?

- And one of the rather
unconventional parts

of the AMG is where the engine sits.

(soft music continues)

- [Narrator] Tobias and his team decide

to put the motor in the
front of the machine.

It doesn't sound unusual,
but how they do it is,

- First of all, you have to
start with some layout work.

You know, it's a dream of a car guy.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] In most traditional
front engine machines,

the power plant sits above
the axle, not behind it.

- This is a real true
front midship engine car,

which means the engine's
completely behind the front axle.

- [Narrator] Placing the
engine behind the front wheel,

centralizes the mass and
puts the focus on handling.

- Ideal handling comes
from a driver's situation

where you have the center of
mass in the car is, you know,

right by the driver or
slightly behind the driver.

(upbeat music continues)

- [Narrator] The next critical
choice is the transmission.

- The major decision was to continue

with the transaxle concept,

which is great from proportions

and weight balance of the car.

(upbeat music continues)

- [Narrator] It's part
transmission and part axle.

The layout's critical advantage
is that it moves a large

and heavy drive train
component to the back.

- We have a transaxle, so we
have a gearbox, the rear ax.

This gives us the the weight distribution.

- [Narrator] Tobias Moers and his team

have defined the layout of the GT,

but it still needs a sexy exterior

to stand out in a very
crowded supercar segment.

That's quite a challenge
when your main competitor

builds the most enduring
shape in the sports car world.

(engine roaring)

(engine roaring)
(tires screeching)

(soft music)

(engine roaring)
(tires screeching)

After years of being known for hot rodding

regular Mercedes AMG has decided
to build its very own car

to take on the revered Porsche 911.

- And our task was to go into a segment

with more competition.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] That desire leads the team

to design its second car from
the ground up, the AMG GT.

- AMG has been around for a long time.

It's only now taken on a life of its own.

- [Narrator] The team has just settled

on a mechanical layout,

and the next question is what
sort of suit it needs to wear.

(suspenseful music)

Gordon Wagener, the head
of Mercedes-Benz design

is the man entrusted with
seeing tomorrow before today.

(suspenseful music)

- So we are living in the future.

Here in our design studios,

the watch is fast forward five years.

Living in the future makes it

a bit more easy to design the future.

- [Narrator] Wagener
is the youngest person

to ever lead Mercedes design.

He earns the top job at 39.

- Yeah, basically the
initiative for a new car

is just between a few people.

Toby approaches me and let's
say, "Ah, let's do successor,

let's do this car different."

- [Narrator] Different is difficult

when you've got over 100 years of history.

- It's a great chance.

But of course with all that heritage,

it's a great responsibility
to go beyond that.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] Going beyond
starts by going back

to the drawing board.

- You cannot just sit down
and start doing sketches

and thinking about random lines.

You need to have a picture in your head.

This car started actually with
one designer and one sketch,

one sketch, and that was it.

(dramatic music continues)

- [Narrator] Then they move
to an old world medium.

- We build it out of the
clay like Michelangelo did

to these sculptures of the marble.

- Yeah, very quickly the
beginning of the process

we went to block in an idea.

(dramatic music continues)

- The cab sits backwards
on the transmission wheel

and it has a very long hood

and this has been the proportion

of Mercedes race cars ever since the 300.

- [Narrator] The 300 is the 300 SL,

perhaps the most iconic
Mercedes ever built.

(upbeat music)

- When you think about Mercedes
sports cars, race cars,

you think about the 300 cabin.

- [Narrator] Introduced at
the 1954 New York Auto Show,

the 300 SL is an immediate success,

- But that was a moonshot.

That was everything Mercedes-Benz could do

and it was a lot of work.

- [Narrator] With a top speed
of 250 kilometers per hour,

it is the fastest
production car of its day.

The car is so revered that it continues

to affect the Mercedes design language.

- It's like this one here for example,

we call it power dome.

It comes from the first SL 300. Yeah.

This is a kind of a homage to the cars

that we had in the past.

(upbeat music)

- The first time I ever saw the AMG GT,

he first thought I had was

that's what a Shelby Cobra would look like

if it were designed today
by a team of Germans.

- There is a certain appeal
to having a front engine car

because it gives the car a certain look.

Having a super long hood,

the way the (indistinct) in the back sits

gives the car an appearance

that you just can't get
with a mid-engine your car.

- I mean, it's got that curvaciousness.

It really has that kind
of sexy curvy design

that we don't get as often these days.

(suspenseful music)

- [Narrator] Using one's imagination

isn't limited to the exterior.

While a design team simplifies,

director of engine
development Christian Enderle

dreams up a new V8.

(air whooshes)

(air whooshes)

- [Translator] Mercedes
AMG has eight cylinder DNA

and eight cylinder history

and eight cylinder is
simply the ideal aggregate

of our goals where we can apply

our entire set of capabilities.

So there was a blank sheet of paper

and the idea that it had
to be an eight cylinder.

(engine roaring)

- [Narrator] They call the
510 horsepower engine the M178

(engine roaring)

- AMG's V8 has defined
what that company is.

This one is a little bit
different than previous one.

This is a twin turbo in-house design.

(upbeat music)
(engine roaring)

- Turbochargers are driven by
the exhaust from the engine

and it's using that energy
to force more into the engine

on the other side.
(engine roaring)

The Mercedes AMG does
kind of a neat trick.

- [Narrator] That neat trick is to move

the turbochargers from the
side of the engine to the top.

Mercedes calls it a hot V.

- Traditionally in a V-shaped engine,

the air comes in in the middle,
comes in through the top

and the exhaust is on the side.

- If you put turbochargers in the V,

you can get them making
boost very quickly.

(engine roaring)

- And turbos spin up faster

and the whole thing fits in a superpower.

(air whooshing)

(engine roaring)

- [Narrator] Those turbos spin

up to 186,000 revolutions per minute

and push 2.3 times more
oxygen into the engine.

(air whooshing)

But to produce 510 horsepower,

the M178 has to inject fuel
faster than the blink of an eye.

(engine roaring)

(Christian speaking in foreign language)

- [Translator] You need to imagine

that each injection takes
precisely one millisecond,

that's about 100 times shorter
than the blink of an eye.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] The downside

to all that high performance is heat.

(dramatic music)

- Suddenly have a lot of hot stuff

in between the V of the engine
that's difficult to cool.

(dramatic music continues)

- [Narrator] The GT's turbochargers

reach an operating temperature
of 800 degrees Celsius,

well above the melting point of aluminum.

(upbeat music)

- The integration of the V8 for example,

with the hot in V was quite a challenge

because we are the first company

to put a front mid-engine
approach into a sports car,

and this gives us sometimes
a little bit headache.

- [Narrator] Designing the engine

might cause some discomfort,

but it's the two and a half
year development process

that thrashes the machine.

(engine roaring)

The team tests the engine

in one of nine advanced Dyno cells.

Motors are subjected to
a variety of conditions

including hot and cold
starts, stop and go traffic,

and even pre-programmed fast
laps on Nurburgring race track.

(upbeat music)

The first road going prototype

hits the streets in June of 2013.

(suspenseful music)

They take the GT to Northern
Sweden, South Africa,

and even high up in the Rocky Mountains

in the United States.

Along the way, engineers cover

hundreds of thousands of kilometers.

(air whooshing)

Once the development process is done,

it's time to build the M178.

- The cars from AMG tend
to behave a certain way.

(engine roaring)

When you stomp on that accelerator,

just know something serious
happening under the hood.

- [Narrator] That serious need for speed

starts in Affalterbach,
Germany, the home of AMG.

- We are always chasing
what could be better.

(upbeat music)

We always challenge the status quo.

- [Narrator] 1400 people
work here every day,

yet just one person builds an
engine from start to finish.

(upbeat music continues)

- One person is responsible
for every last nut and bolt

in that engine and putting it together.

- AMG stands for one man, one engine.

I'm one of these men and I'm
very happy to do this job.

- [Narrator] Every builder
signs their creation

like an artist autographing a masterpiece.

- It makes me very proud.

Every engine I complete
and put my plate on it,

and it's every time, amazing.

(Christian speaking in foreign language)

- [Translator] This is the
engines cover you see here

with the technician's plaque,

it's a signature, very important.

One man, one engine.

- So not only do you know
that your engine was built

by one master technician, you
could find him on Facebook.

That's their reputation online,

that's their name on that engine.

- There is a motto, you know, for for AMG,

one man, one engine.

(upbeat music)

That guy who really assembles that engine

from the beginning to the end with heart,

you know, with passion.

And this is definitely different

than just putting together a minivan.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] The factory
produces 20,000 engines a year,

yet looks like an artisanal workshop.

- It's not a mass
production assembly line.

It's a very efficient facility.

(upbeat music continues)

- [Narrator] It takes
11 steps and three hours

to build an AMG V8.

The build starts by swinging the block

onto a special trolley.

- First you put the crank
shaft into the crank case.

After that, you turn it, put
the pistons in the crank case.

- [Narrator] Eight very special pistons

each installed by hand.

- Well, it's a bit difficult

to put the pistons into the cylinder.

I have to make sure that everything fits.

- [Narrator] Those cylinders
are as unique as the pistons.

Each is coated with a NANOSLIDE treatment

that makes the metal twice as
hard as a conventional engine.

The coating is so effective

that Mercedes uses it
in their Formula 1 cars.

(engine roaring)

Next, the timing chain is added,

cylinder heads.

and finally, the two turbochargers.

Without liquids, the finished engine

weighs just 209 kilograms.

- It's a great honor for me to work here.

We produce performance products

that the whole world wants to have.

I'm a little part of something big here.

- [Narrator] When you're
building a high performance

sports car, every gram matters.

Nowhere is that more apparent
than in the GT space frame.

(tools whirring)

(upbeat music)

- Aluminum space frames

gives us a lot of
freedom regarding weight.

(engine roaring)
(air whooshing)

- [Narrator] The GT's frame

comes to life in Hinesburg, Germany.

- And this is where we
start building the body

in white of our AMG GT.

(tools whirring)

- [Narrator] The frame or body in white

weighs just 231 kilograms.

- Body in white is the metallic structure

that gives the car the
stiffness, the rigidity,

the performance that you need from fresh.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] The frame is 90% aluminum,

and finding craftspeople
who know how to work

with the material is crucial,

- Kind of hard finding people

that are really true skilled
laborers for aluminum cars.

These people are really sought after.

- Steel, you bang it into
shape, it stays there.

If you dent it, you can
pop it right back out.

Aluminum welding is more difficult,

it's just a more difficult
material to work with.

- [Narrator] The facility
is state of the art

and a state unto itself.

To find qualified welders, they
hire from all across Europe.

- All the way from
Portugal to Eastern Europe.

About 20 nations here on board.

(upbeat music)

(tools whirring)

- [Narrator] The key to
the frames lightweight

is knowing how and where
to take away material.

(upbeat music continues)

- So it's a patchwork quilt, right,

of all these different materials,

but each one is in the
exact perfect place.

It weighs exactly as much as
it has to to get the job done.

- [Narrator] Before work begins,

they have to latch the frame into the jig

in precisely the right order.

This prevents warping while welding.

- That sequence is quite critical.

So otherwise you can start
moving parts or shifting them.

- [Narrator] Once they're
locked and loaded,

it's time to weld.

(tools whirring)

- What you see here is the first section

where we actually combine
the front end of the car,

the tunnel, and the rear frame of the car.

(tools whirring)

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] There's over
100 meters of welded material

in just one GT frame.

The body panels go on next.

- So what we see here now
is the framing section

where it starts looking like a car.

(upbeat music continues)

- [Narrator] The framing
jig positions the paddles

so that welders can ensure
dimensional accuracy.

(tools whirring)

- See here is the station

where the car finally gets
its skin, gets the fenders,

the hood, the doors, anything
that kind of determines

the appearance of the car.

- [Narrator] At the end of the line,

craftsmen give each body a final check

for defects under special lights.

- Imperfection that we are looking for,

any scratch, any little mark.

After this, the car gets
protected against the environment,

we put it on a truck and
ship it to Sindelfingen.

- [Narrator] Finally, a
new body is ready to head

to the world's largest Mercedes factory

when they build the AMG GT by hand.

(upbeat music continues)

(engine roaring)

(suspenseful music)

After two and a half years of development,

AMG is finally ready to build a GT.

(metal clanging)

- What you see here is now

this starting point of the production.

- [Narrator] The build
starts on the second floor

of building 3/10 in the
Sindelfingen campus.

- We have the high-end
technology in the car,

not in the system.

- [Narrator] With most
factories, they start assembling

a car on one side of a building

and finish it on the other,

but the GT line is a closed loop

and the first station is
also the last station.

(upbeat music)

- We actually move a
finished car outside the line

and we put in a new car in the line.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Every 30
minutes when a finished car

comes off the line, a bare body enters it.

- Easiest entry point is take one car out,

put another car in.

The car starts here, goes upstairs

where we do preparation of the doors.

- [Narrator] The first job
is building up the doors.

- Especially because it's a sporty car.

There's not a lot space inside,

a door is just in the way.

- [Narrator] Then they take

the partially built doors
off and finish them.

(Jaqeline speaking in foreign language)

- [Translator] I look at
cars through different eyes.

Mainly because I work behind the scenes

and know how everything happens.

- [Narrator] The simplified approach

hides a serious level of complexity.

- Many different configuration

and that's a challenge
of their car, you know,

with unique customers and
they have unique wishes of it.

Our job is actually to fill those wishes.

- [Narrator] After the doors come off,

the body heads downstairs
to station number one

where they stamp the identification number

and install the wiring harness.

(upbeat music)

- This is the cable harness

where we start assembling a lot of cable.

A high-tech car is not easy to assemble

and it has very specific parts.

- [Narrator] Craftspeople
use a home-built tool

to install the harness.

- [Translator] That's a shifter
knob from an old Mercedes.

It fits nicely in your hand.

- [Narrator] The retrofitted shifter

helps workers mount small clips

that hold the harness in place.

Next, they fill the car
with dampening material.

- We have to find the right balance

between sport and light.

On the other hand, you want
to hear the right noise,

which is the engine.

(engine roaring)

But not the outside.

(engine roaring)

- [Narrator] Fitting the
material is a two person job

that requires precision teamwork.

(Torsten speaking in foreign language)

- [Translator] We have to work as a team,

otherwise, we don't get very far.

If we all just worked individually,

the car would never get built.

(Torsten speaking in foreign language)

We're attaching the fuel tank

so that it sits properly
on the insulation pad.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] After the
fuel tank is installed,

workers prep the engine
bay for the massive V8.

(tools whirring)

- You have to ensure that the
people have all the tools,

all their parts close to where he works.

(upbeat music continues)

- [Narrator] They use a
mobile parts tray system.

Yet the key isn't the tech but the people.

- When you do small
volume productions kit,

it's important to get the right
person in the right station.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Up until now,

the car has been steadily moving forward,

but when the body changes
lines, it moves backwards.

- Actually, you see the car is coming

with the rear end first

and here we start with the first parts

that the customer later
will touch and feel,

and that's a dashboard.

(upbeat music continues)

- [Narrator] The dashboard
is first built up

on a sub-assembly station.

(tools whirring)

- The dashboard is a big part.

We preassemble it on site here.

- [Narrator] The craftsperson rolls

the finished dashboard to the line.

(drill whirring)

Each station has a trolley

that's been custom made
for its craftsperson.

- Prepare the trolleys, they
are defined by the craftspeople

who say, "This is how I want it."

(drill whirring)

- [Narrator] Workers have a large say

in how the factory runs
except for one station.

(machine whirring)

- Now we are at the station

with the only robot we have
in this production line.

We glue the windows and we glue the roof.

- [Narrator] Once the glass is set,

they start installing cabin pieces.

(hands thudding)

Customers can choose
from 13 interior colors

and five different kinds of trim.

(upbeat music)

They install the 1000
watts stereo amplifier,

next come leather wrapped panels,

and finally the center console.

- The center console actually is one

of the last parts because it's big.

Everything big we do late.

After that, we already start
preparing for the marriage.

- Preparing the car for the engine starts

by flipping it on its side

so workers can connect
fuel and brake lines.

Once the bottom is prepped,

it's time to install
the 510 horsepower V8.

(alarm beeping)

But first they have to
send the car to the altar.

(upbeat music)

- In German we say (speaking
in foreign language),

where they bring the chassis

and they couple the engine.

- This is technically the
most challenging area.

In this station, people
really work hand in hand

like we do in a pit stop, for
example, in the Formula 1.

- [Narrator] They build up the drive train

subassembly using a jig.

- People working here need to cooperate

and they really have to trust each other.

(soft music)

- [Narrator] It takes 10 craftspeople

to put the drive train together.

- We are preparing for
where we lay the engines

and the gear box.

So now bring the engine over.

(indistinct)

This connects the engine to the gear box.

This is the engine with the gear box.

- [Narrator] A torque tube
is a type of drive shaft

that connects the engine
to the rear transaxle.

It looks heavy, but inside
is a carbon fiber rod

that weighs just 3.9 kilos.

- Mercedes went with a torque tube

made out of carbon fiber
just for lightweight.

If they can take a lot of
mass out of that torque tube,

it's less weight that
the engine has to spin up

every time you accelerate.

(engine roaring)

Makes the car faster.

(upbeat music)

- This is the calibrated pin.

I drop it there so that way

it'll fit directly into
this rotary object.

(upbeat music continues)

In university I studied electronics.

I also happened to find myself here.

Very lucky to be here, you know?

It's a very big international
company. Very quality cars.

- [Narrator] When the
marriage is complete,

they move the car back to the main line.

(upbeat music continues)

- This is where we create
the face of the car.

(upbeat music continues)

(tools whirring)

(Alex speaking in foreign language)

- [Narrator] The best way is to set

the light correctly in order to actually

get them installed right.

And then with the bumper,

you need to work with your
partner, but then it works.

(upbeat music continues)

(hands thudding)

- [Narrator] Finally,
they're ready to mount

the most famous star in
the automotive world.

(Gabriele speaking in foreign language)

- [Translator] First the area is clean

and then the star put on.

It gets pushed on with a special tool

and then attached.

It's the best of the best.

I cannot say it strongly enough.

(upbeat music continues)

- [Narrator] Seats come next.

(tool whirring)

Then the doors go back on.

(upbeat music continues)

(drill whirring)

- When the door is on the
car, then we are almost done.

There's only one station left.

- [Narrator] The last station is where

the proverbial rubber meets the road.

(drill whirring)

- This is the end of
the cycle of assembling

then the car is ready.

(engine roaring)

This is the end of the manufacturing.

(upbeat music)

(engine roaring)

(tools whirring)

(engine roaring)

(upbeat music continues)

(fireworks crackling)

- [Narrator] It is taken over five years

to go from one man's idea
to a finished machine.

- This car, the whole AMG
division, really steps out

of the Mercedes-Benz shadow.

(upbeat music continues)

It is creating its own cars.

It is the big performance flagship.

(engine roaring)

- [Narrator] Now the AMG GT is
ready to take on all comers,

including their bitter crosstown rival.

(engine roaring)

- The AMG GT has a very
targeted place in this segment.

It lines up almost price by price

with some of the best performing 911s.

(air whooshing)

- [Narrator] A base AMG GT
starts at 115,000 euros,

while the upgraded S Model
goes for over 134,000.

- If you're a fan of top tier sports cars,

the AMG GT is very exciting to you.

(dramatic music)

(engine roaring)

(air whooshing)
(engine roaring)

- [Narrator] The GTS
launches from naught to 100

in just 3.8 seconds.

(air whooshing)

- But when you start hustling
a thing, you realize,

oh my god, this car is amazingly fast.

Like they can make cars
this fast. That's legal?

(air whooshes)

- [Narrator] The hand built AMG engine

propels the GTS to a top speed

of 310 kilometers per hour.

(engine roaring)

- Straight line performance
is very important,

but it's all about overall package.

regarding a car, regarding
a performance car.

(engine roaring)

- It has hydraulic steering.

So you feel everything,

you know exactly what the car's doing.

(tires screeching)

It's a genuinely fun super car to drive,

and not all super cars are fun.

(tires screeching)

- You're flinging this
car through the corners

and it's leaning in there
and you're right on the edge

of the tires and it's
really talking to you

and it's really rewarding to drive.

(engine roaring)

- [Narrator] Creating that fun

starts nearly a decade ago with the SLS.

(soft music)

- I think this car
represents Mercedes admission

that perhaps its two predecessors

were too expensive and two dear.

(engine roaring)

- The AMG GT is sort of SLS version 2.0.

It's smaller, it's
tighter. It handles better.

It puts the power down better.

It is the next evolution of that car.

- The most interesting
thing to me about this car

is looking at the progression
from SLS to AMG GT

because this car is finally

what Mercedes should have
been building all along.

(engine whirring)

(upbeat music)

- The previous SLS, it felt like the hood

ended in a different state.

The GT feels a lot more manageable.

It is an inch shorter and
that doesn't sound like much.

- [Narrator] 25 millimeters
that make a world of difference.

(upbeat music continues)

- It's more compact, it's more livable.

It's more a car than a super car.

But it is 100% a dialed
in performance car.

(air whooshing)

- [Narrator] Performance had
with high end German luxury.

- The inside of this car feels expensive.

It looks expensive, and it's comfortable.

- I did a 1500 mile
road trip in an AMG GT,

totally comfortable, great road trip car.

Getting everything
right, it's comfortable.

You can drive it to the office every day.

- True connoisseurs, true
enthusiasts are really taking note

of the performance potential of AMG.

(engine roaring)

- Every culture has an
appreciation for a product

and they express that very differently.

Japanese cars, some are expressed

in that attention to detail.

The Italians in craftsmanship.

The Germans in engineering.

We don't look at that and say, "Wow,

they're passionate engineers",

but it's the same basic idea, right?

They love what they do and
they're passionate about it.

(dramatic music)

This is finally a Mercedes-Benz supercar

that can compete with the
other standard supercar

for everyday use, the 911.

(engine roaring)

(dramatic music continues)

- The way that Mercedes AMG has gone

about building its GT

and taking the fight to the Porsche 911,

I think is extremely clever.

- [Narrator] Cleverness that comes

from the front midship layout.

- If you're gonna say the
Porsche is the more precise car,

the AMG is the more raucous,
aggressive muscular machine

(tires screeching)

(engine roaring)

(engine roaring)

- Has Mercedes at least
approached the fight

with the 911 the right way?

Yes.
(engine roaring)

Because it's not trying to
beat Porsche at its game.

(dramatic music)

(engine roaring)

It's doing what Mercedes and AMG have done

so well for so long

and really distilling it down to one car.

- [Narrator] One car that's
been built with a single focus.

(engine roaring)

- I think the challenge for Mercedes

was finally beating Porsche with this car.

It's had predecessors
that were wow-looking,

but didn't drive quite as well

to go head-to-head with a 911.

This one finally moves the mark.

(engine rumbling)

- [Narrator] The Mercedes AMG GT.

It wears one of the most
famous hot rodding badges,

and is the newest sports car
from the oldest automotive

company in the world.

(dramatic music continues)

- It's a brand of the
three pointed starts.

- It is the performance

and sports car brand of Mercedes-Benz.

We always fulfill what we promise,

And this is maybe the reason

that we have a little
bit more freedom now.

(dramatic music continues)