In 1990 a commercial collaboration agreement was signed which authorized the AMG tuner to distribute and guarantee its products through the Mercedes sales network. From this joint venture, the first production Mercedes-AMG was born in 1993, the C36, based on the Klasse-C W202. It was equipped with a 3606cc in-line 6-cylinder, with a power of 280 horsepower. The C36 remained in production until 1997, when it was replaced by the C43, with a 4.3-liter V8 engine and 306 horsepower; the C36 was produced in 5221 units, while 3085 units of the C43 were built, also in the SW version. The C43 was marketed until 2000.