Essentially a Formula One car you can drive to work — the AMG fuelled Mercedes is poised to give other street rockets a run for their millions…
Mercedes AMG Project One
Engine: 1.6 litre V6 plus 4 electric motors
Transmission: Automated 8 speed
Power: 1600 kW
Top Speed: 350+ km/h
0-100km/h: 3.0 secs
Price: $5 million+
Going up against ridiculously fast hypercars that include the Bugatti Chiron, Aston Martin Valkyrie, and Pagani Zonda is intimidating — but it helps when the World Championship-winning Mercedes Formula One team has your back. The first prototype contained the same engine that Lewis Hamilton uses. Naturally, the seven-time world champ’s had a drive, and unsurprisingly came away cheering. “I’m very proud of the extraordinary effort Mercedes-AMG has invested in this project. This car is absolutely unique,” he added. The man knows his machines. Producing the same amount of power as seven Toyota Corollas (1600 kW), it’s powered by a surprisingly small 1.6 litre V6 (and four electric motors), but for the safety of driver and pedestrians, the engine can be intentionally kept below the F1 speed limit. As a plug-in hybrid, it has an all-electric range of 25 km. The One will cost more than $5 million, but even if you have to funds, you won’t necessarily get the keys. You also must have a large social media following, and you must have owned at least 10 Mercedes in your lifetime — talk about exclusivity. Aussie buyers have actually snagged eight of the 275 examples planned to be built — even though the car will be exclusively left hand drive. The lucky 275 will get to see their engine being hand-assembled, with every part of the car customisable, except for the seat belts. As it stands one of the most exciting cars to drive today — until autonomous cars drive us all tomorrow.
By Bill Varetimidis
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