Mercedes-AMG Project One Drives On Public Roads for the First Time
Watch CTO Jochen Hermann take a stroll in the Mercedes-AMG Project One as its F1 powerplant simply screams.
The Mercedes-AMG Project One was originally announced way back in 2016 before its reveal one year later, and in the years since, we’ve been treated to plenty of photos and even video of the F1-inspired hypercar testing at all sorts of places, including the legendary Nurburgring. But we had not seen the long-awaited, highly-anticipated Project One on public roads – until now, that is.
Mercedes-AMG Chief Technical Officer Jochen Hermann recently took the Project One out for its first drive on public roads – outside the company’s Immendingen proving grounds, to be specific. Luckily, the automaker published some footage of the event on its Facebook page for all of us to soak in. Unfortunately, that video is full of dramatic music that somewhat covers up the car’s glorious exhaust note, but we can hear enough of it to know that it’s darn good.
Sound, as well as performance, is the hallmark of the Mercedes-AMG Project One, a car born of a bonkers idea – making an F1 car for the road. And that task has proven to be more difficult than anyone could have imagined. Turns out, making the Project One’s 1.6-liter hybrid V6 emissions legal and tame enough to drive on public roads isn’t a walk in the park, even for some of the world’s best engineers.
Regardless, the 275 folks who are lining up to pay $2.72 million for the privilege of owning a Project One likely won’t be disappointed. Revving up to 11,000 rpm, the halo car features all sorts of innovative technology, including a turbulent jet ignition to pre-ignite the air-fuel mixture before it enters the cylinder, loads of active aero, a split turbocharger, and a pair of electric motors that add 408 horsepower to the gas engine’s 748 ponies for a total of 1,156 raging horsepower.
Since the F1 version of this engine idles at 5,000 rpm, the project wound up being delayed by nine months until Mercedes-AMG figured out how to bring that number down to an emissions-friendly 1,200 rpm. Regardless, it seems like the automaker has finally sorted out this complex automobile, and it sure looks road-ready, judging by this video. Throw in the fact that it may very well be the last such vehicle of its kind, thanks to the onset of the electric revolution, and it’s safe to say that the Project One is going to be something truly special whenever it finally arrives.
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