Mercedes is aware of the incident, but nobody knows what the cause was yet.
English newspaper The Sun has been sent images of a Mercedes-AMG One hypercar that burned to the ground on the M6 motorway in Staffordshire. According to a local witness, "It wasn't being driven at the time, it was just being towed," which makes the unexpected meltdown all the more surprising.
Firefighters did their best to save the car, but as the images reveal, the blaze was too intense. Hopefully, there is enough remaining for Mercedes to determine the cause of the ignition.
"We are aware of this incident involving a car that was being transported in a closed trailer as part of its assembly process," said a Mercedes spokesperson. "Fortunately, as far as we are aware, nobody was injured."
"At this point in time, we do not know what caused the fire and, if needed, we will support the investigation of the insurance company," concluded the statement. The wording used suggests that the One in question was not yet complete, but it remains concerning that the hybrid hypercar caught fire unexpectedly, particularly since the engine was not running when the inferno started.
Development of the F1-inspired machine was fraught with issues, contributing to a five-year wait for its production to begin. Now that it has, some early drives have reported that the drive systems are not yet perfectly calibrated. This fire is just another sign that building a car with real F1 technology is a lot more challenging than creating a new C63.
The $2.8 million hypercar was revealed last year with a production run of 275 units. Assuming that this example had not yet been completed - the first example was only delivered early this year - we assume that Mercedes will rebuild the car for its customer, so there should still be a full allocation when all cars have been made.
As a reminder, the F1-derived V6 turbo and a trio of electric motors contribute to a headline figure of 1,048 horsepower. Knowing the complexities of F1, the engine could be to blame for the fire as much as the electric systems. Then again, the blaze may have been started by another issue. Either way, it's sad to see an era-defining hypercar go to waste.
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