Is this mystery Mercedes CLE our first look at the next C63 Black Series?

There have been murmurings of a return to V8 power for Mercedes-AMG’s lineup for a while now, and though there’s still no confirmation, this new test mule does suggest it’s bringing an old formula back to the lineup. Set to launch as the second model in its exclusive ‘Mythos’ series, the marque has released the first few official teasers of a CLE-based special cold weather testing in Sweden.

The car that kickstarted this new series was the PureSpeed speedster, a roofless SL-based model with a 577bhp V8 and a design inspired by the AMG One hypercar. Mercedes-AMG planned to sell just 250 units as a competitor to the likes of the McLaren Elva and Aston Martin V12 Speedster. This new car, however, is a little more conventional. 

> The 577bhp Mercedes-AMG Purespeed is Affalterbach’s answer to the McLaren Elva

Mercedes is providing us very little information at this stage, but what it has said is that this car will take the concept of the CLE coupe ‘several steps further’. Given this is a model that stopped short of the 63 badge with the lacklustre CLE 53, perhaps this is a hint that we might be about to get precisely what we’ve been waiting for…

This mule is clad in plenty of camouflage (and snow) in the limited images that have been released, but what is clear is the fitment of aggressive widened arches at the front and rear, enhancing what is already a purposeful performance coupe. It’s also much lower than the standard car suggesting the use of a new, more focused suspension setup, and there’s even a half-cage fitted to replace the rear seats. It also has a fixed rear wing, making its suite of modification suspiciously close to those last seen in 2011 on the 6.2-litre V8-powered W204 C63 Black Series.

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While the bold vertical Panamericana grille of the standard CLE 53 has been carried across, look a little closer and you’ll spot a completely revised lower intake design. This is perhaps the change that’s most telling, as it appears to have been revised in order to drastically improve airflow to what seems to be a much more sophisticated cooling package – perhaps there’s more than an in-line six-cylinder under that bonnet.

All Mercedes has said on the powertrain is that it will be ‘powerful’, but there have been rumours of a V8-powered CLE for quite some time – while the current C-class has no room for a V8, the E-class underpinnings of the CLE give it more than enough room. Whether or not this exclusive Mythos model is the car that will receive it is yet to be seen, but if it does, chances are it'll be our first look at AMG's new 4-litre flat-plane crank V8, a unit set to make its way into numerous AMG models in the future.

The CLE produces 443bhp in its most potent standard form thanks to a mild-hybrid 3-litre twin-turbocharged in-line six, but we’ve always felt it deserves more – let's hope this new special is a sign of things to come. Given the limited nature of these Mythos cars, there's no doubt it will be pricey. An 'ordinary' CLE 53 will set you back just shy of £80,000 before options, so expect it to exceed that figure by quite some margin.