HSV review - 1st one I've found

[Express]

I can’t talk for some of the models mentioned but you cannot build a C63 AMG from a C Class Mercedes-Benz unless you first purchase the C63 Chassis.
You cannot fit C63 guards or bonnet to a C Class.
Those who want the look use aftermarket panels as the genuine items are too long for the C Class Chassis.

To combat BMW’s M division, the C63 was the first vehicle where Mercedes-Benz allowed AMG to build a car without using the donor car apart from the basic interior and exterior cosmetics.
The first thing AMG had to do was design a chassis to take the 6.2litre V8 and try and make it handle.
As most car people would know, AMG has a reputation for straight line fast cars that don’t corner very well.
AMG used the C63 as a test to change this.
The car is longer and the engine has been pushed back into the cabin.
Anyone who has spent any real time travelling in a C63 will tell you the heat from the engine being so close to the firewall turns the cabin into a hot box on trips and during hot Aussie summers.

The worldwide marketing success of the C63 allowed AMG to continue with the design and release of the SLS as its first ever stand alone sports car.

Stand alone has now become their new philosophy.

Much the same with the E Class Coupes which are built over C Class Chassis and not the E Class.
They look like their Model designation but they are not.

The GT and GTS are much more than their donors.
But apart from the impracticable cost of building either from a base Falcon or Commodore using genuine parts, it would take far less parts to do it than the C63 as you first have to source a chassis and panels. The C63 doesn’t have a proper donor.

.