Maybe you like the Mercedes-AMG GT, but you’ve come to realize that sticking the kids in the trunk is a bad, and probably illegal, idea. Maybe you didn’t want the classically proportioned coupes and roadsters to feel like the odd ones out any longer — the Affalterbach-developed cars are the only models in the current AMG range that don’t share designs with the rest of the Mercedes-Benz lineup (though there is an AMG hypercar coming later this year).

Or maybe you really, really wanted an AMG hybrid.

The AMG GT Concept, freshly revealed at the 2017 Geneva motor show, has you covered on all those fronts. Look past the uninspired name and overcome the urge to pigeonhole it as a Porsche Panamera fighter: This is a good indicator of where AMG wants to go as a sub-brand. Perhaps it’s even further proof that performance hybrids are on the cusp of becoming something more than sops to environmental regulators and high net worth greenies.

It’s not bad-looking, either.
 

The AMG GT Concept isn’t just a coupe with two extra doors — the hood is shorter here, and the windshield rake is less dramatic.

First, the powertrain. The concept is equipped with the familiar 4.0-liter turbocharged AMG V8 plus one electric motor. AMG says you’ll be able to drive the car in electric-only, gasoline-only and hybrid drive modes. It is not a plug-in hybrid, at least in concept form; regenerative braking charges up the battery, with the engine acting as a generator to top it off if charge drops below a certain threshold.

It wears an “EQ Power+” badging, barely visible on the side-mounted cameras that pass for rearview mirrors. This is a clear effort to tie the car, and its hybrid powertrain, closer to Mercedes-AMG’s successful Formula 1 efforts, and It’s the designation for all future AMG hybrids.

The concept is all-wheel drive, with the electric motor acting as a “booster” for the rear wheels; it’s equipped with a torque vectoring system to improve handling. The decision to go 4Matic makes sense given the lofty performance targets: 0-60 mph in less than three seconds and a total system output of 805 hp. Note that the stated figure is enough to whomp 680-hp Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid, which also packs a 4.0-liter turbo V8. That can’t be accidental.
 

This rendering shows how the all-wheel drive system integrates the gasoline component of the powertrain (in orange) with the battery-electric part (shown in yellow).

Beyond the hybrid powertrain, this concept clearly previews something other than a stretched-out AMG GT Coupe; we wouldn’t count on this thing sharing much with the two-doors when you strip away the skin. For one, a basic X-ray drawing illustrating the gasoline/electric drivetrain seemed to show a V8 sitting farther forward than the front-midengine AMG GT’s. We don’t have dimensions yet, but the concept’s hood is less vast than the one on the Coupe and Roadster, with the base of the windshield pushed farther toward the front of the car (that extra cabin space has to come from somewhere). That windshield also isn’t raked quite as dramatically as the ones on the two-doors — and that’s a fairly significant “hard point” to modify from an automotive engineering perspective.

The AMG family resemblance is definitely there, however. Front and rear overhangs appear comparable, as do the front and rear fascias — the concept car has a familiar tail end, including an AMG GT R-like tailpipe, and a face that comes complete with the AMG GT’s toothy new “Panamericana” grille. A blacked-out B-pillar gives it a hardtop look.

The AMG GT Concept is said to preview an upcoming range of performance hybrids from the Mercedes sub-brand.

Flush door handles and side-mounted rearview cameras aside, Mercedes tends to build concepts that accurately preview production models. So if you like what you see here, chances are good that you’re gonna like the real thing when it hits production. And if the ever-widening range of AMG GT coupes and roadsters is any indication, you’ll be able to find one to fit your needs.

We know what you’re thinking: Dare we hope for an AMG GT wagon? Eh, don’t push your luck. But when German automaker pride is on the line and model variants are flowing forth like Märzenbier, all bets are off. In the meantime, we’ll bring you production version specifications, pricing and a release date when that information becomes available.

The concept wears a familiar face, right down to the ‘Panamericana’ grille being rolled out across the AMG GT Coupe and Roadster range.

Graham Kozak – Graham Kozak drove a 1951 Packard 200 sedan in high school because he wanted something that would be easy to find in a parking lot. He thinks all the things they’re doing with fuel injection and seatbelts these days are pretty nifty too.
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