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Mercedes-AMG Hypercar Officially Confirmed at 2016 Paris Motor Show

Mercedes-Benz has plenty of motorsport pedigree. AMG also enjoyed the laurels of success in endurance and touring car racing. Now, however, the two brands are dedicated to Formula 1 and various GT competitions held all around the world. To celebrate their recent efforts on the racing scene, Mercedes-Benz and the mad scientists at AMG joined hands to develop a very quick car.
Mercedes-AMG hypercar sketch at 2016 Paris Motor Show 27 photos
Photo: Stefan Baldauf/SB-Medien
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At the 2016 Paris Motor Show, during the presentation of the Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster, the screen behind the car displayed the silhouette of the upcoming hypercar. Purportedly baptized Mercedes-AMG R50, a lot of mystery envelops the future model. Here’s what Dr. Thomas Weber, Daimler AG member of the board of management for R&D, had to tell us:

“Under the lead of Mercedes-AMG, our performance companies will join forces and create the most efficient and, at the same time, most dynamic and most spectacular AMG of all time – some might even call it a hyper car. It will show how we will take our performance brand into the future with extremely efficient and intelligent drivetrain technology.” That's a confirmation, alright.

Reading between the lines, the higher-ups have green-lit its skunkworks engineers to make the Mercedes-AMG hypercar happen. It’s not actually known when the first prototype will be ready, but then again, do bear in mind that 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of AMG. From the minimalist teaser projected at the Paris Motor Show, the future model looks as if it is a road-going LMP1 endurance racer with the engine located in the middle, complete with an airbox on top of its roof, a rear vertical fin sprouting behind the airbox in true LMP1/Formula 1 fashion, plus a pair of muscular haunches.

Previous reports, which should be definitely be taken with a grain of salt, suggest that the allegedly named Mercedes-AMG R50 will combine a 1.6- or 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbo with as many as three electric motors. With Formula 1-inspired technology such as KERS and other whatnots, the hybrid machine is rumored to produced anything between 1,000 and 1,500 HP.

In the face of the Bugatti Chiron, that’s not a whole lot of get-up-and-go, but as compared to the French hypercar, the German interloper is said to be a much more lightweight affair. More to the point, it’ll weigh less than 2,900 pounds (1,315 kilograms) according to one of the two cited reports.

Performance-wise, the low curb weight and potent powertrain are rumored to enable an acceleration from 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) in “about 2 seconds” and a top speed of more than 220 mph (354 km/h). Not many examples of the breed are expected to be made. Hearsay also suggests that the retail price will nudge €4 million ($4.45 million), which is a heck of a lot of money.

2017 can’t come soon enough. Until then, expect to hear even more reports on how mind-bending the Mercedes-AMG hypercar will be.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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