Few names resonate within Mercedes-Benz collecting circles quite like AMG's legendary Hammer.

Built during a period when Affalterbach remained fiercely independent, these hand-finished creations established AMG's reputation as the world's foremost Mercedes-Benz tuner.

While V8-powered Hammers have become established collector icons, commanding just below $1 million, cars such as this remarkably rare W124 300E 3.4 AMG offer perhaps the purest insight into AMG's formative years.

Offered here is an exceptionally significant example, one of only 133 W124 300E 3.4 AMGs believed to have been produced and one of just 30 specified with the highly desirable five-speed manual Getrag gearbox.

More importantly, it belongs to the most coveted category of all pre-merger AMGs, cars bought in Germany, independently commissioned by their owners, and converted by AMG in Affalterbach before the company's formal cooperation with Mercedes-Benz fundamentally changed the nature of its business.

To appr...