Mercedes-Benz 300 SL 6.3 AMG Red Pig Redesigned 2026

The unseen Showcar from my iconic book by deliusklasing – the Red Pig – inspired by the Mercedes AMG 300 SEL 6.3 “Rote Sau” from 1971 – another legendary design from the past into the future heritage.
 

The former Mercedes-Benz design boss has just unveiled his virtual take on a modern version of the iconic 300 SEL 6.3 AMG “Red Pig” from 1971, the car that started the whole AMG performance story. The modern “Red Pig” has yellow LED headlights with the star logo and zero conventional taillights, but retains the old-school livery from 25 years ago.
 
“The unseen showcar from my iconic book,” former Mercedes-Benz design head Gorden Wagener describes his digital redesign of the 300 SL 6.3 AMG “Red Pig,” or “Rote Sau,” the way the Germans call it, bringing the legendary model into the present with a futuristic approach.
 
The original car was too much of everything. It was too big, too heavy, too everything, and it had too many doors. AMG founders Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher, residing in Grossaspach (hence the AMG lettering) took upon themselves to build a racing touring car, the first in AMG history, based on the Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3.
The enlarged capacity of the engine brought more power. The race-ready 6.8-liter power plant produced 428 horsepower under the hood of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL 6.3 AMG “Red Pig.” The numbers made it one of the world’s quickest four-door.
 

The car made its debut at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in the hands of Clemens Schikentanz and Hans Heyer and achieved a group win and a second place overall. Those who had laughed at the “Red Pig” were in shock.
 
The “Red Pig,” however, was born under a bad star. A few weeks later, in July 1971, the car driven by Helmut Kelleners slipped off the track and slammed into the barriers. The driver returned to the pit on foot. He never drove for AMG again.
 
The car was fixed and raced in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring before being sold to the French ammunition company Matra, where it was used for military test arrangements in the development of aircraft tires and landing gear.
 
The car went off the radar in the early 1990s and was supposedly scrapped. Mercedes eventually recovered the original blueprints and built a replica in the mid-2000s, the one that shows up in the latest photos.
 

Now, it has been revived by the former Mercedes-Benz design boss. Gorden Wagener left Mercedes-Benz after nearly 30 years with the company, but he is still very much attached to the company, so he is now helping the “too big, too heavy” race car make a virtual comeback.
 
The modernized “Red Pig” sports LED headlights sporting the star pattern, similar to the tailights of the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class and CLA. LED rings seem to have replaced the auxiliary racing lights. The livery mimics that of the original AMG, while the five-spoke wheels imitate those from 1971.
 
The images showing the rear end don’t include taillights, which is slightly odd by any standards. With or without taillights, something tells me there is more where this modern “Red Pig” came from.