ONE

Segment
Coupe

Buying rare supercars and hypercars is a completely different experience than buying, say, a Porsche 911 (assuming it's not a 911 GT2 RS or 911 R). Automakers like Ferrari, Porsche, and Mercedes-AMG are in no mood to sell their rare hypercar creations to just anyone and provide this privilege to their most loyal longtime customers. Sometimes, however, these customers prove they're not so loyal by putting their production build slots up for sale for ridiculous amounts of money.

This Mercedes-AMG One build slot is yet another example. German-language website Mobile.de, via The Supercar Blog, is offering anyone with $4 million to spare the opportunity to own this Formula 1-inspired hypercar. The precise asking price is €3,490,000 in change.

Turns out the ad was placed by an Austrian exotic car dealer called Auto Salon. In other words, the automaker played no role in this. Limited to just 275 examples, the Mercedes-AMG One already has an eye-watering price tag of $2.7 million, but it's obvious this seller/flipper is only in it for profit. Interestingly, Mercedes-AMG went on record stating they won't allow owners to flip their cars for a fast profit.

Like for the Ford GT, there's a contractual clause preventing them from doing so. Aston Martin is doing the same for its own street-legal racing hypercar, the Valkyrie. The ad also claims whoever ends up buying the build slot will receive their car by the end of this year.

Free tip of advice: if you're considering this deal then properly investigate the vendor before handing over a check. As for Mercedes-AMG, if they want to stop this greedy owner from making a profit on their build slot then they'd better act fast.

It cannot be that difficult to trace the owner with the assistance of the dealership. It's also in the Auto Salon's interest to honor this request from Mercedes-AMG. Angering the automaker gets you nowhere. Unfortunately, greedy flippers will always exist and it's up to automakers to come up with effective preventive measures to stop them.