The Mercedes-AMG Project One was potentially one of the most hyped supercars of 2017. The brand didn't disappoint when the car was revealed at the 2017 Frankfurt motor show with an electrified 1.6-liter turbocharged V-6 and a split turbo that helped give it more than 1,000 horsepower. We've drooled over the technical specifications and vehicle construction for a few months. Now, the team behind the car's design helps us dive a little deeper into the design in a new video.
The Project One's design reflects the car's appetite for speed and many facets echo the car's Formula 1 inspiration. To start, there's a large roof-mounted air scoop that mimics the brand's F1 cars, and it gives way to a shark fin at the rear. It is also flanked by a pair of NACA ducts that were inspired by aircraft design.
The car's overall ethos is aerodynamics, but Gorden Wagener, chief design officer, says the body and surfacing recalls a certain beauty and fullness from the F1 race cars. That's appropriate because this is basically an F1 car for the street. Every surface has a purpose, which not only looks good, but keeps function at the forefront.
Inside, Hartmut Sinkwitz, director of interior design, restates the "function" element of things. In the video, he bluntly professes the interior is an exercise in function over form. "We followed the goal of 'no styling.' First of all is function," he says. The idea is more than apparent with materials sourced directly from race cars, which include carbon fiber and microfiber fabrics, and a relatively straightforward cockpit.
Although computers and CAD drawings helped bring the Project One to life, Vitalis Enns, overall design project manager for Mercedes-AMG, also stresses the importance of clay in the design process. During the hypercar's design, clay made it very easy to reshape portions of the body on the fly. The Project One isn't just about fancy clockwork, AMG thinks its supercar also has a soul. "You almost like blow the soul into a car when you model it," he says."