Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 (2018-2023)

Given the nature of the website you’re reading, it’s probable that you already have an opinion on the Mercedes-AMG GLC63 S 4Matic+. And, well, it might not be entirely favourable.

This near-£80,000 car is nevertheless something of a poster child within the corporate headquarters of Daimler AG in Stuttgart, where all the product planning, the marketing and the accounting happens, and, bluntly, where the bottom line is the primary concern.

It’s also where they’ll be giving themselves a big pat on the back, because demand for SUVs such as the Mercedes-Benz GLC has been nothing short of phenomenal. In fact, it has played a decisive role in Mercedes-Benz last year shoring up its position as the world’s biggest luxury manufacturer. Compatriot brand BMW previously held that title for a decade, so it’s a momentous achievement.

There is also the small matter that next year’s pure-electric EQ C SUV – a product for which the term ‘game changer’ could well prove to be something of an undersell – will share this SUV’s production underpinnings. For a model that has never particularly tickled enthusiasts, the GLC is building a significant legacy.

The line-leading GLC63 S 4Matic+ is (or at least should be) more obviously concerned with the matter of driving. As the performance-oriented coupé derivative of a medium-sized premium SUV, its taxonomy is idiosyncratic.

And yet despite the niche-player status, it could be argued that this car is also everything that currently makes Mercedes such an aspirational brand condensed into one package: a glorious-sounding AMG engine of eight cylinders, a raised driving position and an urbane design whose heavy-set but strangely gentle curvature is calculated in its mass-market appeal.

Of course, were you to throw all your favourite ingredients into a salad bowl, the resulting concoction would probably be repulsive. But it might just be the best thing to ever hit your taste buds. So which is it for this multifaceted AMG?

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