ONE

Segment
Coupe

It all started at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show when the Mercedes-AMG Project One Concept was unveiled. F1 champion Lewis Hamilton was on hand for the occasion. That street-legal hypercar will officially be called the Mercedes-AMG One when it arrives in production form. Problem is, that reveal was initially planned for 2019. Numerous technical delays ensued, mostly due to emissions certification issues surrounding the vehicle's 1.6-liter F1-inspired V6 engine plug-in hybrid powertrain. Extra juice will come from four electric motors for a grand total of 1,200 horsepower. The coronavirus pandemic further caused some issues regarding homologation road testing.

But a Mercedes source has now confirmed to German language Automobilwoche a more precise reveal date.

"In the third quarter [of 2021], the first cars will come to customers," a spokesperson said. Until now, we only knew the reveal date will be sometime this year. But if customers are set to receive their cars this fall, then a full reveal should happen before then. If there was a Geneva Motor Show this year, then Mercedes-AMG would have doubtless produced a celebration display for its first new hypercar in several years. An online-only reveal is likely to happen in spring or early summer.

Despite the numerous and annoying delays, not a single AMG One buyer has backed out. Only 275 examples are planned and all quickly sold out. It also didn't come as much of a surprise when it appeared that one of those customers attempted to sell their build slot over a year ago for about $4 million.

Mercedes-AMG set the price at $2.7 million, plus tax. The only way to prevent customers from flipping their cars for a quick profit is to screen them carefully in advance, which Mercedes claims it did. At present, final development work is still underway and Lewis Hamilton himself has been personally involved throughout the F1 off-season.

Mercedes claims the AMG One will be the closest thing to a street-legal F1 car anyone can buy (the also upcoming Aston Martin Valkyrie would disagree). It will be capable of accelerating to 124 mph in less than six seconds and top out at around 217 mph.