Mercedes-AMG Project One: An F1 for the road

Never before have we come so close to driving a street-legal Formula 1 car on Canadian roads. The mad geniuses at AMG, the high-performance division of Mercedes-Benz, are working behind closed doors on a new hypercar codenamed “Project One.”

From what we can gather, this will be a real F1 for the road. It will be made entirely of carbon fibre for maximum lightness and boast incredible levels of downforce for a road car. Its secret, though, lies under the hood, in its F1 powertrain.

The Project One—if we're permitted to call it that—will have a 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engine capable of 748 horsepower. To increase durability, it will rev at lower speeds than an F1, limited to 11,000 rpm. Despite this, the engine still clocks in as the rev-happiest ever installed in a street-legal car in modern history. Four electric motors, one per wheel, will offer an additional 272 horsepower. These components, combined with a featherweight design, ensure the Project One will have an explosive impact.

On the downside, it won't be easy to service this speedster. The engine generates enormous power relative to its small size, meaning it will need to be rebuilt no less than every 50,000 km. In addition, the type of transmission used, a single-clutch automated manual variant, will make fluid changes a task reserved for qualified professionals.

The 250 vehicles produced will each go for $3 million. Mercedes-Benz says it has received over 1000 pre-orders. Better luck next time!

Share on Facebook

More on the subject

FrankfurtMercedes-AMG Project ONE: the Roadgoing F1 Finally Unveiled!
FRANKFURT, Germany – The German automaker has been teasing us with this car for some time now, and it has finally arrived. The Project ONE, a veritable street-legal race car, has just made its world debut during a media event on the evening before the Frankfurt Auto Show opens its …
BlogLamborghini Centenario: Celebrating 100 Years
If someone asked you to name Lamborghini car models, you shouldn't have too much trouble: there's the Aventador and the Huracán. What many people don't know is that Lamborghini has a tradition of producing limited-edition vehicles. There was the Reventón, an extreme version of the Murciélago, and the Sesto Elemento, …
BlogLamborghini Aventador S: Prestige Guaranteed
There are cars that will surely get you noticed, and the 2017 Lamborghini Aventador S is one of those cars. The most exotic and expensive vehicle currently sold by the famous Italian automaker was treated to a subtle visual update this year. The front treatment, headlights and rear section have …
BlogMercedes-Maybach G 650 Landaulet: Maximum Extravagance
Mercedes-Benz unveiled its most extravagant SUV yet at the last Geneva Motor Show, the Mercedes-Maybach G 650 Landaulet. The G 650 is based on the G-Class, the German automaker's famous square-shaped SUV, but offers a unique style due to its mammoth proportions and an open section at the back that …
Blog2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS: the Most Powerful!
During a debate about the exotic supercars of our wildest dreams, it’s tough not to include the Porsche 911, a symbol of performance and handling for more than 50 years. Since money is no object, why not go all the way and get the most powerful, the fastest and the …
First Drives2018 Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S 4MATIC+: The Family Missile
STUTTGART, Germany – Seeing the growing popularity of AMG products, in Canada in particular, it isn’t surprising to see Mercedes-Benz create high-performance variants of all its model lines. Well, almost all of them. And since the North-American market in general scoops up SUVs in industrial quantities, it was only natural …
NewsSold-Out Mercedes-AMG ONE Debuts in Production Form
Remember the Mercedes-AMG ONE concept unveiled in 2017? Of course you do. Well, the production model has finally arrived. Only 275 units of the German hypercar will be built, all of which are already spoken for. Pricing before tax is a whopping 2,275,000 million euros. A Road-Going F1 “The team …
NewsWatch: Mercedes-AMG ONE is Now the Fastest on the Nürburgring
The Mercedes-AMG ONE hypercar is the new king of the ring—as in the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. With a lap time of 6:35.183 minutes, it’s faster than any other road-legal production car on the planet. The previous mark of 6:43.047 minutes—nearly eight full seconds slower—was set two years ago by a Mercedes-AMG GT …