You might be able to afford the new Mercedes-AMG C63

If you have £66,429 in your bank account right now, we have tremendous news. You can afford the facelifted Mercedes-AMG C63. If you have £66,428 in your account, however, you simply cannot. Commiserations.

That sum will buy you a ‘basic’ C63 saloon. A fine thing, by all accounts, with a 0-62mph time of 4.1 seconds and an electronically-limited top speed of 155mph. For your money you get 18in alloys, a performance exhaust, LED headlights and an interior with many screens. The C63 S adds more power (503 plays 463bhp) fancy seats, bigger wheels and nine-stage traction control, among other things. It costs £75,408, will do 0-62mph in 4 seconds flat and top out at 180mph.

But you don’t want the saloon. There’s a C63 for everyone – and the one for us is the Coupe. Or maybe the Estate. The former is £68,719 or £77,698 as an S, and the latter £67,629 or £76,608 as an S. The Cabrio is the priciest 63 – a non-S is £72,537, and an S £81,516.

Cross-shopping with an M4? Those come in at under £60K – but for that you get a manual. You really want a Competition Pack car. With a DCT, those are £66K. Bang on. A Giulia QV is £61K. Where’s your money going?