For the Mercedes-AMG ‘One’, it has certainly been a long road to production. Project ONE was originally shown off by Lewis Hamilton as a concept back in 2017 and has since then gone on to encounter seemingly every possible hurdle imaginable throughout the development phase.
One can’t help but assume it’d be worth the wait, though. It consists of a 1.6-litre turbocharged V-6 engine and an electric motor, the powertrain supposedly set to generate more than 1,000 horsepower which takes its inspiration from Mercedes’ current Formula 1 car. This will allow the beast to accelerate from 0 to 200 km/h in less than six seconds, hitting a top speed of 350 km/h. Hamilton was particularly keen on the vehicle at the time of its announcement, claiming to have “been nagging Mercedes for years because we’re in Formula 1 and we have all this technology.”
“We’re winning world championships, yet we don’t have a car that can match a Ferrari road-going car. So I guess they eventually decided this is actually a good idea. I’m not saying it was my idea, but I did nag them for ages to do it.”
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Originally, production and subsequent deliveries of the plug-in hybrid were intended for 2019, but has repeatedly been pushed back with Mercedes citing engineering issues. Chief among these has apparently been the task of getting the powertrain to comply with the increasingly strict emission standards in Europe, as well problems with the engine’s idle speed. Despite this, the AMG team reportedly never halted development on the car and now it appears that Project ONE is finally ready for production next year.
That being said, these hypercars do have a tendency to not deliver on their arrival more often than not. The Mercedes-AMG ‘One’ has fielded comparisons to the Aston Martin Valkyrie since the announcement of both in 2017, with one key similarity being the fact that both have been postponed several times.
Even if the car ever sees the light of day, it will be virtually impossible to get your hands on one. Despite the car’s whopping US$2.6 million (AU$3.5 million) price tag, all 275 examples of the Mercedes-AMG One have already been accounted for. There has also understandably been no indication of plans to increase the production run, seeing as this initial set has already taken them four years to deliver on.
