Modified Mercedes C63 Edition 507 Is a Tire-Shredding Dream
One man traded a race car for an AMG, and now the German adrenaline flows freely.
Shaun Sunstein is a man who found himself on the right side of an AMG addiction after a fortuitous trade handed him the keys to a Mercedes-Benz C63. Sunstein was trying to sell a Mazda RX-7 race car, an FD generation car with around 800 horsepower, when a buyer in California called to offer a trade. A relatively low mileage C63 AMG Edition 507. Sunstein never saw himself as a Mercedes guy, but after doing some research he decided it seemed like a fun machine so a bargain was struck.
One quick flight out to California and Sunstein was the proud new owner of a sinister looking black Mercedes. The drive back to Tennessee was all it took for Sunstein to fall in love. “Since I started it the first time, I was a fan. It sounded like a big muscle car wrapped in Mercedes trim.” The long empty highways across the southwest allowed for some deep exploration of the power and performance hidden inside of the hand-built V8, further cementing the affection.
But Sunstein is not one to leave his cars alone, and he started modifying his new toy to create the monster you see here. The stock AMG V8 is powerful, but Sunstein wanted more. A Magnussen 2.3L supercharger was the cure, and coupled with a full fuel system upgrade and a solid tune, this C63 is now cranking out more than 700 horsepower.
To help deal with all that extra power Sunstein added a full suspension upgrade and ordered a custom set of wheels from Niche. These handsome red rollers are each milled from a single solid slab of aluminum. The rears are massive at 11-inches wide, but even that much rubber can’t prevent this angry German from utterly destroying its rear tires, which Sunstein was all too eager to demonstrate for me.
Sunstein made it obvious he doesn’t like the collector crowd when he said, ‘They buy this cool machine and they just park it in the garage. They never drive them. It’s such a waste.’
The red wheels are not the only visual modification Sunstein made to his C63. In the pursuit of style and weight reduction, a massive pile of carbon fiber has been thrown at this AMG. The custom front lip, side skirts, rear diffuser, rear wing and hood are all hewn from the lightweight composite.
The car is far from perfect though. When I arrived to interview Sunstein and shoot his car, it was covered in dirt and water spots, there are small nicks across the paint, and the clear on some of the carbon needs retouched. Sunstein apologizes for the visual condition, but otherwise seems nonplussed. “It’s my daily driver.”
And he is certainly not afraid to drive it. He has already put nearly 30,ooo miles on the car, and it is quickly closing on 75,000 total miles. Sunstein is a man after our own heart and believes these machines exist to be driven and enjoyed. He made it obvious he doesn’t like the collector crowd when he said, “They buy this cool machine and they just park it in the garage. They never drive them. It’s such a waste.”
We agree completely and ask you guys to take a minute to appreciate all of the details of this particular C63 build in the full gallery below.
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