The Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 team recently took first place in both the driver’s and the constructor’s championships. The car maker is celebrating the end of a remarkably successful season with a limited-edition version of the A45, AMG’s smallest model.
Appropriately called Champion Edition, the special A45 immediately stands out from its regular-production counterpart because it’s finished in silver with eye-catching dark green and black accents, a livery inspired by Mercedes’ winning F1 car. The paint job is complemented by a more aerodynamic body kit that includes new front bumper with a bigger splitter and fins and a sizable roof-mounted spoiler out back. 19-inch alloy wheels whose design is loosely inspired by the ones that the F1 car rides on wraps up the exterior modifications.
The cabin gains power-adjustable sport seats for the front passengers, green contrast stitching on the center console, on the dashboard and on the seat belts, as well as a metal plaque on the center console. Every Champion Edition comes loaded to the gills with features such as the Night package, the luxury-focused AMG Exclusive package, and the AMG Dynamic Plus package, which adds a front-axle differential lock, an adjustable suspension with a race mode, and a sport steering wheel.
Mercedes-AMG hasn’t made any mechanical modifications to the commemorative A45. That’s not a bad thing, because the pocket rocket was recently updated with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that generates a healthy 381 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque. Bolted to a seven-speed automatic transmission that spins all four wheels, the turbo four sends the A45 from 0 to 62 mph in just 4.2 seconds and on to a top speed that’s electronically limited to 155 mph.
Buyers in Europe will be able to order the Mercedes-AMG A45 Champion Edition from January to May of 2016. Pricing kicks off at 65,402 euros, a sum that converts to nearly $70,000. To put that figure into perspective, the regular A45 carries a base price of 51,051 euros (approximately $54,000) in its home country of Germany.
Updated 11/28/2015 by Ronan Glon: Added additional information about the option packages.
