The Mercedes-AMG Is Worth the Many Hoops You Have to Jump Through

You could only buy it if you owned 20 Mercedes in your lifetime.

Mercedes-AMG
The carmaker Mercedes presents a new concept car Mercedes AMG 'Project one' at the Mercedes-Benz press conference at the 2017 Frankfurt Auto Show. (Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images)
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The $2.75 million Mercedes-AMG is worth every penny — and every hoop you have to jump through to get it. The Mercedes-AMG Project One is the carmaker’s first foray into the ultraluxe stratosphere of incredibly fast hypercars — others include the Bugatti Chiron, Aston Martin Valkyrie, and Pagani Zonda. The car produces a 1,000 horsepower and can go from 0 to 124 mph in six seconds. It is powered by a 1.6-liter V-6 (and four electric motors) that screeches up to 11,000 rpm, according to Esquire, and it is a plug-in hybrid, with an all-electric range of about 15 miles.

Only 275 people own the car because only that number of cars are being made. In order to get it, you needed to apply — Mercedes received around 400 applications in the U.S. and 1,100 worldwide. The ultimate decision came down to AMG CEO Tobias Moers and Dietmar Exler, the president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA. So how did they chose among the billionaires? Esquire writes a large social-media following helped, and so did the sense that you would actually use the car and show it off at events. But the biggest barrier to getting the Mercedes-AMG Project One? You had to have owned at least 20 Mercedes in your lifetime.

Much of the car can be customized, besides the seatbelt (because of safety regulations, though you can still chose the color). The car will not be delivered until 2019.

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