I've always wondered if the 55 engines are really made by hand. I mean torston(my dads is same as engine in top gear episode) must go crazy with 18,000 engines to build a year!

 

I think there is a broad definition of "Hand Built" and mfgs use it differently. Can something be called hand built if only 25% is built by hand, how about 75%? See where this is going......

 

Each engine is hand assembeled in Affalterbach. The parts are not made by hand, yet are made by the highest quality machines in the world. The engines are not assemebled on a factory line, like other engines MBZ makes.

Yet the engine is hand assemebled by one and only one person.

 

So if the parts are not made by hand and only the assembly by hand, what do you think -- 50%?

 

That is still a ton of work for torston and the "few selected induviduals" to do, especially if only one person puts together one engine. Imagine what torston is thinking at the beginning of the year-one down and only 17,999 to go

 

18,000 is excluding the Pagani Zonda engines too.

 

AMG engines are 100% hand built. Each engine has one guy working on one engine stand. The guy doesn't cast his own blocks, hydraulically crack his own rods, or forge his own pistons, but he does hand build, as in assemble, every engine he signs for.

 

poor torston!

 

Thanks guys I appreciate the info

 

This guy Torston is one of many AMG techs that build engines as proven by the various names on AMG engines.
From reading your posts, you make it sound like the poor guy builds 18,000 engines a year, all by himself. I would imagine it isn't possible for this guy to build 18,000 engines in his lifetime

 

Sorry, I exaggerated a little too much. Anyone know how many people put these engines together?

 

Getting a head count may prove to be difficult . . . .

 

50 mechanics........I was in Affalterbach in August.The plaques of the current mechanics are posted on a board in the factory.If you get the chance to tour the factory...you will be blown away.

 

What the hell. Torston doesn't make 18,000 engines by himself as you make it sound. Anyway, too bad you're not allowed to take pics in the factory!!

 

We didn't visit the AMG factory but we toured the main MBZ factory outside of Stuttgart, that was amazing to see the cars assembled. We also toured the Porsche factory where the also hand built each engine. One guy builds 3 engines per day. Porsche stopped stamping their engines with name plates because they were getting requests from prior customers to have specific guys build their engines. Thought that was interesting.

 

Wow I was thinking 300 guys I mean 50 guys induvidually build 3 a day sounds like a lot but when the math is done they only have to work one third of the year to build almost exactly 18,000 engines.

 

Sorry again for the exaggeration. Torston makes 360 engines a year which isnt too bad

 

Wow! That's like an engine a day!

 

Does Porsche do the whole hand-built thing for every car? Even the boxter and the Cayenne?

 

Yes the factory in Stuttgart builds all the engines accept the Carrera GT when it was in production.

 

Let me get this right....is Torston this guys dad? Is this thread for real?? I'm confused.

 

No, Torston is the guy that built his engine. They had an AMG on an episode of Top Gear, and they mentioned Torston.

 

My dads name is steve not torston. My dads engine has the same name on it as the one in the top gear episode. Thats what i was trying to say. Sorry for the 12th time-im not too good at starting threads yet.

 

wow, we thought we had torsten jr here!

 

thanks a lot