Paris show: Mercedes-AMG teases GT coupe

MERCEDES-AMG will officially reveal its brand new V8-powered Porsche 911 rival, to be called the GT, at the Paris motor show in early October.

The GT will be the second sports model developed independently by Mercedes performance arm in Affalterbach after the SLS AMG supercar.

It is believed the GT will go on sale in Europe early in 2015, and while Mercedes-Benz is understandably keen to bring the car here, it is still not certain when the first examples will arrive, according to corporate communications senior manager David McCarthy.

Early conjecture had the car called 'SLC', though it is now clear that is not the case. The company calls the front-engined mean machine “a GT sports car in its purest form”.

Few facts about the vehicle are known, though it has been revealed that under the long and low bonnet will sit a fiery AMG V8 engine, matched to a paddle-shifter double-clutch automatic transmission.

Speculation suggests the engine will be a new force-fed 4.0-litre unit to be shared with the next-generation C63 AMG, though naturally its maker is keeping quiet on that front for now.

But that does not mean Mercedes-AMG GmhB isn't divulging something. To get the publicity ball rolling, is released a couple of images of the car's interior overnight in all its leather-clad and high-class pomp.

“The interior design,” says AMG, “embodies emotion and sensuality like no other sports car.

“The uncompromising lines of the interior components and their authentic materials exude a clarity that uses contrasting effects to help define the concept of "modern luxury”.

Mercedes-AMG cites aviation design as a key theme, with a wide dashboard that reminds one a bit of a wing and a centre console the same shape as an aircraft's NACA air intake. There are eight buttons flanking the automatic gear shifter – one to represent each engine cylinder.

They control functions including engine start, suspension setting, engine settings, audio volume, idle-stop activation and ESC stability control. Neat touchces include the S-Class-style silver door speakers, carbon-fibre highlights, dash-top screen and four circular horizontal air vents.

The red-and-black leather bucket seats carry through to a red control covered in hide and stamped with a prominent AMG logo.

While no official images of the car's rear have been shown to the public, spy shots indicate the GT will have similar proportions to its gull-wing SLS big brother, albeit in a more compact package.