This year marks the 55th anniversary of Aufrecht Melcher Großaspach (AMG), Mercedes-Benz’s performance division, and to commemorate the milestone, the German carmaker has unveiled what has been billed its “most powerful customer sports car.”
The limited-edition Mercedes-AMG GT Track Series packs a whopping 734 hp and 627 lb-ft of torque. There’s one small catch, though — this monster can only be unleashed on the track.
The sports car is based on last year’s road-legal AMG GT Black Series, but this time, the engineers took a no-holds-barred approach to restrictive government regulations, leaving them free to stretch the new AMG GT’s performance and design boundaries.
The Mercedes-AMG GT Track Series Photo by Mercedes-AMG
The AMG GT Track Series was built to the standard of full-fledged GT3 and GT4 race cars, and includes features like a fire-suppression system; ‘escape hatch’ on the roof; and a full roll cage. Production is capped at 55 units, with each car expected to cost about US$400,000. It’s a sticker price that comes with goodies like engineer support on track days, pre-delivery technical training, and access to a supply of spares.
The Prodrive Hunter is the ‘Ferrari of the Desert,’ with a 600-hp beating heart
In July 2021, U.K.-based Prodrive unveiled the Hunter T1+, a rally special custom-built to take on the 2022 Dakar Rally. Now it has gone one step further with a road-legal variant that David Richards, Prodrive chairman, has christened the “Ferrari of the desert.”
Prodrive claims this will be the fastest cross-country production car in the world. A 3.5-litre Ford-derived twin-turbocharged V6 powers the car, tweaked to produce 600 bhp and 516 lb-ft of torque. The company expects a zero-to-60-mph time in under four seconds; and a top speed of nearly 186 mph (299 km/h).
The Prodrive Hunter off-road hypercar Photo by Prodrive
The Hunter T1 will be fitted with off-road-oriented equipment such as the Prodrive-designed ultra-long-travel twin-shock coil suspension; and air jacks to facilitate rapid changing of the tires. The off-road supercar also boasts a massive 480-litre fuel tank for extended desert runs, but there is a smaller tank option if you favour bigger trunk space.
Prodrive plans to build 25 road-going T1s over the next two years, with each priced from US$1.7 million before taxes. The company has already found a home for the first unit — the private collection of Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince of Bahrain.
Austrian company plans April debut for all-new electric hypercar
Austria’s DEUS Automobiles has set April 13 – the week of the New York International Auto Show – as the reveal date for its upcoming hypercar. There’s a name for the EV, too: the DEUS Vayanne, after the city of Vienna. The car is being developed in partnership with famous Italian automobile design outfit Italdesign; and Williams Advanced Engineering, battery suppliers for the Formula E grid.
The company has teased a couple of images and a short video of the hypercar, but details are still sketchy. However, Italdesign and Williams Advanced Engineering have been working on a modular EV platform that could form the basis for the Vayanne. That powertrain can churn out up to 1,341 hp, enough to make it a truly formidable hypercar.
It will be interesting to see how the hypercar will measure up against rivals like the Rimac Nevera or Pininfarina Battista. First, it will have to make it to production, though.
Keyword: Mercedes' most powerful AMG yet is this 734-hp track car