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.

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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!