This Eight-Cylinder C43 AMG Is Our BaT Pick of the Day

• This Mercedes-Benz C43 AMG features a 302-hp 4.3-liter V-8 under its hood.

• Silver paint and a black interior emphasize this eight-cylinder C-class's sleeper status.

• Bidding closes on Monday, May 1, 2023.

For the 2024 model year, the Mercedes-AMG C63 loses its predecessor's V-8 engine in favor of a complex turbocharged four-cylinder gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain. On the plus side, the new C63 still accelerates like a rocket. Alas, it comes at the expense of a hefty curb weight. Today's pick from the auction site Bring a Trailer—which, like Car and Driver, is a part of the Hearst Autos group—hearkens back to a simpler time at the three-pointed star. This 1999 C43 AMG marked the first time Mercedes fit a big V-8 into the small C-class sedan.

Today, AMG slots neatly into Mercedes's corporate structure, a neatly polished cog in a vast machine. In late 1997, when the C43 was first shown to the world, AMG Motorenbau und Entwicklungshesellschaft mbH was still its own entity (Mercedes would take a controlling interest in the tuning shop in 1999). Having previously built the six-cylinder C36 to compete with the BMW M3, the company now returned to its favorite activity: stuffing big V-8s in small cars.

In the case of the C43, AMG plucked the 4.3-liter V-8 from the Mercedes-Benz E430 mid-size sedan and fit it under the compact C-class's hood. The folks at AMG hand-assembled each engine (one technician per V-8). Thanks to improvements to the big engine's oil cooling and intakes, the C43 rolled off the line with a stable of 302 horses—27 more than an E430.

The C43 may have lacked the handling grace of an M3. But what it fell short of in lateral dynamics, the little AMG-tuned C-class made up for with its V-8 engine's melodious soundtrack and plentiful torque.