Fifty years may not seem like a long time in the auto industry when you take into account that a lot of automakers that are still alive today have been around for close to or over 100 years. But five decades is a long time for a performance division that traces its roots to being a developer of racing engines. Humble beginnings, in a nutshell, is the story of AMG, Mercedes-Benz’s high-performance division that’s blowing 50 candles this year. As part of its celebration, Mercedes-AMG is bringing with it three special edition vehicles at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, one of which is the Mercedes-AMG C 43 4MATIC Night Edition.

The entry-level Mercedes-AMG line of the C-Class family may be new to the auto scene, having only made its debut at last year’s staging of the Geneva Motor Show, but it’s more than proven to be up-to-the-task as an appetizer of sorts to the AMG C 63. That quick ascent in popularity is one of the reasons why Mercedes picked the AMG C 43 as one of the three special edition models it’s bringing with it to Geneva, and for what it’s worth, it picked a pretty sweet car to get the SE treatment.

The model’s SE status is largely tied into the array of exclusive features it received that no other AMG C 43 model has. Even better, Mercedes-AMG is offering the Night Edition on both coupe and cabriolet versions of the car, ensuring that fans of either model can get their fill in the event they choose to get one.

Orders for the Mercedes-AMG C 43 Night Edition will begin before the Geneva Motor Show opens its doors with deliveries scheduled to start sometime in June 2017. Mercedes-AMG didn’t mention how many units of the Night Edition it plans to release, but considering its special edition status, don’t expect to see many of them in dealerships. Most of them might not even make it there because they’re already spoken for.

Continue reading to learn more about the Mercedes-AMG C 43 4MATIC Coupé and Cabriolet Night Edition.

2017 Mercedes-AMG C 43 4MATIC Coupé and Cabriolet Night Edition

Specifications
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  • Model: 2017 Mercedes-AMG C 43 4MATIC Coupé and Cabriolet Night Edition
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What makes the Mercedes-AMG C 43 4MATIC Coupé and Cabriolet Night Edition special

Let’s get this out of the way first: the Mercedes-AMG C 43 4MATIC Night Edition is available for coupe and cabriolet variants of the model.

Now that we’ve established that, it’s easy to trace the reasons why this special edition model is called the Night Edition. Simply put, there are a lot of black details in the cars, highlighted by the black dots on the car’s diamond radiator grille. The dots may not be clearly seen from the press photos that Mercedes showed us, but we trust the German automaker that they’re there.

Move away from the grille, and you’ll notice plenty of exterior trim strips scattered throughout the AMG C 43’s body. There are strips on the front splitter, on the rear apron, and side skirts. Does anybody want to bet that these strips are also painted in black? Yeah, fairly obvious, right?

And just in case the treatment isn’t obvious enough, even the car’s spoiler lip on the trunk lid and those trim elements on the tailpipe are also finished in black, as is the set of 19-inch multi-spoke light-alloy wheels, which to be fair are painted in matte black.

Put all the exclusive features of the model together, and it’s easy to see why its “Night Edition” name is pretty darn applicable.

Now let’s move to the car’s interior, which if you need to be reminded, is also drowning in black surfaces and trims. Most of the elements are of the standard variety, but Mercedes-AMG did give it a dressed up Performance steering wheel with Nappa leather and DYNAMIC microfiber on its rim and a badge on the center console that reads “Night Edition” in case some people forget its special edition status.

The upgrades are admittedly conservative compared the two other Geneva-bound special edition models, the Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster Edition 50 and the Mercedes-AMG C 63 Ocean Blue Edition. The GT C Roadster Edition 50 is a saucy follow-up to the AMG GT C Coupe Edition 50 that was launched at the 2017 North American International Auto Show while the C 63 Ocean Blue Edition has plenty of touches of the exclusive Deep Ocean Blue color from which the special edition AMG C 63 takes its name.

Note: side-by-side photo of the Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster Edition 50 and the Mercedes-AMG C 63 Ocean Blue Edition

As far as the engines are concerned, both the AMG C 43 4MATIC Coupe Night Edition and the AMG C 43 4MATIC Cabriolet Night Edition will still be powered by a 3.0-liter V-6 bi-turbo engine. It pumps out 362 horsepower and 384 pound-feet of torque for the coupe and 367 horsepower and 383 pound-feet of torque on the cabriolet.

Those figures translate to a sprint-to-60-mph time of 4.6 seconds for the coupe and 4.7 seconds for the Cabriolet. Top speed though is electronically limited to 130 mph for both variants.

If you end up considering the Mercedes-AMG C 43 4MATIC Night Edition (and why shouldn’t you?), it’s important that you make up your mind quickly because Mercedes-AMG is opening reservations for the car on March 6, 2017. The automaker didn’t say how many units it plans to release of the Night Edition, but if you take a page from its co-debutantes in Geneva, don’t expect a lot of them to be made. My guess would be no more than the 500 units of the AMG GT C Roadster Edition 50.

Drivetrain Specifications

Engine

AMG-enhanced 3.0L V6 biturbo

Displacement

2,996 cc

Output

362 HP @ 5,500-6,000 RPM

Max. torque

384 LB-FT @ 2,000-4,200 RPM

Drive system

AMG Performance 4MATIC all- wheel drive (31:69 torque split)

Transmission

AMG-enhanced 9G-TRONIC 9- speed automatic transmission

Acceleration 0-60 mph

4.6 seconds

Top speed

130 mph (electronically limited)