Thanks to a high-revving V6 and four electric motors, the Mercedes-AMG hypercar will put down serious numbers.
Some well-heeled horsepower junkies recently got an advance look at the Mercedes-AMG hypercar codenamed “Project ONE.”
According to Automobile, one person who had placed an order for it called it a “truly wild thing, extreme in every respect.”
Those are two adjectives you could use to describe the Project ONE’s powertrain. The combination of a turbocharged 748-horsepower 1.6-liter V6 that redlines at 11,000 rpm, two electric motors for the front wheels, and one a piece for the crankshaft and turbocharger (all four generate a total of a 408 horsepower) adds up to a net output of 1,020 horsepower.
Down low, the battery pack will boost the V6’s torque. Up top, they’ll add extra boost. They’ll also make Project One capable of driving 30 miles on pure electric power.
Thanks to a carbon fiber shell, Project ONE should weigh less than 2,900 pounds – with all of its batteries. In other words, it’ll be about 400 pounds lighter than an SLC300, but have more than four times as much power and two more driven wheels. Although we don’t know what Project ONE completely looks like yet, we know its numbers look great on paper.
We’ll find out just how wild and extreme Project ONE’s design really is when Mercedes-AMG unveils it at the 2017 Frankfurt auto show in September. (We’ll also find out the car’s production model name.) The automaker will only produce 250-275 of them and sell each one of them for roughly 2.17 million Euro (around $2.35 million at current exchange rates). In fact, it’s already close to selling out its production run. Automotive enthusiasts with deep pockets and heavy right feet have already put in 225 pre-orders.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
