Mercedes-AMG capped the AMG ONE at 275 cars. "Only 275 units will be built in total," the Mercedes-Benz performance brand said in August 2022, when production of customer cars began. Every one uses a hybrid powertrain based on Mercedes' Formula 1 power unit. The price was set years before the car was ready. Mercedes-AMG boss Tobias Moers told Top Gear in March 2017 that the car, then called Project ONE, would cost €2.275 million before tax. Motor1 put it at $2.72 million in 2021. In April 2026, RM Sotheby's sold a one-owner 2024 car with 89 kilometers on the clock for €2,817,500 at its Monaco auction.
An F1 engine with four electric motors
The powertrain comes from Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains in Brixworth, England, the same group that builds the power units for the Mercedes F1 cars. It pairs a 1.6-liter V6 turbo that revs to 11,000 rpm with four electric motors. One sits in the turbocharger, one is mounted on the engine, and two drive the front wheels. Together they make 782 kW. Mercedes lists that as 1,063 hp, which is metric horsepower. In the US measure it works out to about 1,049 hp, the figure Motor1 uses. Top speed is capped at 352 km/h, or 219 mph. The ONE is a plug-in hybrid, and it can also drive on electric power alone.
The cars are put together in Coventry, England, at a small factory Mercedes-AMG set up with manufacturing partner Multimatic. Each car passes through 16 assembly and test stations, and more than 50 specialists work on every one.
Why it took five years
Mercedes-AMG showed the Project ONE concept at the Frankfurt motor show on September 11, 2017. Moers had said first customers would get their cars in 2019.
Making a race engine legal for the street took far longer. Motor1 reported that the switch to stricter WLTP emissions testing caused trouble, and that engineers had to bring the F1 engine's 5,000 rpm idle down to a steady 1,200 rpm. AMG chairman Philipp Schiemer said at the 2022 launch that the job had "undoubtedly pushed us to our limits."
The hypercar got its final name, Mercedes-AMG ONE, in September 2018. The production version premiered on June 1, 2022, AMG's 55th anniversary, and made its first public run up the Goodwood Festival of Speed hill later that month.
Customer production started in August 2022, which Top Gear counted as 1,794 days after the concept's debut. Mercedes said the first deliveries would come in the second half of 2022, and in January 2023 Motor1 reported that AMG had shown off the first customer car, wearing German "ON1" plates.
The Nürburgring record laps
On October 28, 2022, AMG brand ambassador Maro Engel lapped the 20.832-kilometer Nürburgring Nordschleife in 6:35.183, a record for road-legal production cars. Parts of the track were still damp. Engel set the time on the last run of the day, starting at 17:14:31 with the track due to close at 17:15.
Engel went back on September 23, 2024, in dry conditions. His third timed lap was 6:29.090, more than five seconds quicker, and Mercedes says that made the ONE the first road car under 6:30. TÜV Rheinland checked that the car was in production condition, and a notary confirmed the run.
See how the ONE stacks up against other limited-run cars, like the 500 Lexus LFAs, on WhipJury.
Sources:
The 275-car limit, production start, Coventry factory, Multimatic, the 16 stations, and the delivery plan: Mercedes-Benz
The June 2022 premiere, output, motors, top speed, rev limit, and Schiemer's quote: Mercedes-Benz
The Goodwood debut: Mercedes-Benz
The 2018 name change: Mercedes-Benz
The 2022 record lap: Mercedes-Benz
The 2024 record lap: Mercedes-Benz
The launch price and the original 2019 delivery target: Top Gear
The concept's reveal date and the 1,794-day wait: Top Gear
The development delays and the $2.72 million price: Motor1
The first customer car: Motor1
The 1,049 hp figure and 219 mph top speed: Motor1
The 2026 Monaco sale: RM Sotheby's
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Mr.choppers and MB-one (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Andrew Basterfield (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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Jeffrey Wiley has spent more time than he'd like to admit thinking about what makes a car look right. He writes about automotive design, car culture, and the opinions people have strong feelings about. He lives in north Georgia.
