KEY POINTS:
Given the amount of time Australian carmakers bang on about their V8 muscle cars being designed to take on Europe's best, Mercedes-Benz's decision to launch the C63 super-sedan at the legendary Mt Panorama circuit in Bathurst - undoubtedly the spiritual home of Holden-vs-Ford V8 Supercar racing - might
be regarded as something of a motor industry in-joke.
Bathurst City Council only allows the circuit - a public road for 97 per cent of the year - to be closed for 10 days a year. Australian V8 Supercar racing accounts for four of those; Mercedes-Benz's mega-launch for the media, dealers and a few very lucky customers claimed another four.
There was a fleet of 35 AMG cars on hand for circuit work, including the new flagship performance version of the C-class sedan, the 6.3-litre V8-powered C63 AMG.
Each came with a racing-driver instructor to help ham-fisted journalists around the daunting circuit.
At the end of each day, each one of the AMG cars got new tyres, brake pads and fluid. That's 70 hours of work a night for the team of technicians and a truckload of expensive consumables.
Nobody was talking numbers, but the budget for the event must have been mind-blowing.
The drive was. The purpose of the Bathurst event was to showcase the performance and handling attitude of the new C63 AMG. It's part of a new generation of AMG machines and it embodies a new driver-focused philosophy for a brand that has traditionally been about straight-line speed first.
Yes, the C63 still has mad power for a small sedan - 336kW/600Nm.
So even with an automatic transmission as standard, it's still quicker to 100km/h (4.5 seconds) than an Audi RS4 or BMW M3. But it's nimble and entertaining too, which has not always been the case with AMG cars.
Compared with the standard C-class sedan, the C63 has a new front suspension, 35mm-wider track, a new steering system, stability control that can be retarded or switched off completely, which is a first for AMG, and a new "Speedshift Plus" version of the Mercedes seven-speed automatic that shifts 20 per cent faster than other AMG gearboxes.
Compared with the remainder of the AMG range around the mountain (and more about those cars next week), the C63 is simply in a different league.
It's not just because it's one of the smaller models in the range - it's to do with throttle response, the intuitive nature of the gearbox and the sense of connection between the driver and road. This is a landmark car for Mercedes-AMG.
It'll also be a threat to Audi and BMW because of its value-pricing. At $155,000 and fully loaded with equipment, including 18-inch alloys and leather upholstery, the C63 four-door undercuts the BMW M3 by $15,000.
Even the instructors - many of whom were V8 Supercar drivers - were stoked to be on a closed Mt Panorama circuit, regardless of them being passengers.
Jack Perkins endured several laps of my unique cornering but was still having a ball: "It's pretty rare to get out here in a racing car, so it's incredible to spend a week on the track regardless of what you're doing."
It's a pretty special place.
