There comes a time in every car enthusiast's life where they must make tough decisions. Fortunately, this is not one of those times. This Mercedes C63 AMG, the fastest production 4-door car in the world at the time, can now be yours for much less than the price of a mid-level Kia freaking Optima.
Welcome to the first car that AMG Mercedes built from the ground up as a performance car, which is pretty damn easy when you employ the formula of tiny car with huge engine. It housed Mercedes' mammoth 6.2L V8, with a 7 speed automatic. It was faster, had more power and more torque than anything remotely similar from Audi and BMW. Also, just as eye candy, 6/4 piston front/rear calipers with cross-drilled rotors are a real bonus.
This 1-owner, 2008 example also has Renntech upgrades, which by the look of things, include carbon fiber accents, diffusers, and strut bars, in addition to the aftermarket wheels that do compliment the car's looks quite well. I'm not sure if there are any performance upgrades, but I can't imagine this car would really need anything more than the factory's insane, tire-melting power can provide. The mileage isn't bad, but the vehicle's history report is absolutely spotless, scoring way higher than other "average models.
It has S-Class interior features, can out-accelerate a BMW M3, and makes all the right noises. It has depreciated to the point where it's cheaper than a Kia Optima Limited, and you can get an aftermarket bumper-to-bumper warranty for it. People, it doesn't get much better than this.
If you want more awesome performance bargains, check these out: http://carbuying.jalopnik.com/why-buy-a-toyo…http://carbuying.jalopnik.com/you-can-buy-th…
Tavarish is the founder of APiDA Online and writes about buying and selling cool cars on the internet. He owns the world's cheapest Mercedes S-Class, a graffiti-bombed Lexus, and he's the only Jalopnik author that has never driven a Miata. He also has a real name that he didn't feel was journalist-y enough so he used a pen name and this was the best he could do.