Mercedes-Benz AMG One review

The basic price for an AMG One, before options like a funky livery or the magnesium wheels, is £2.4 million (€2.275m plus local taxes). Only 275 are being produced at a special F1-grade facility in the UK, and they’re all sold. Mercedes says it has no plans to offer a roadster or somehow turn the wick up and give us a ‘Black Series’ version.

There’s been lots of rumour about the One’s specialised F1 V6 engine needing a full factory rebuild after 50,000km or about 31,000 miles. Some say the price for the procedure will be around €850,000.

The engineers say that’s not quite right: each car’s engine life will depend on how the owner has used it. Ones that do lots of track days will need to visit the mothership for a tear down earlier than Ones that just visit Cars and Coffee. But AMG is defiant, pointing out an F1 engine usually requires a team of experts to start it, doesn’t run on normal petrol, idles at 5,000rpm instead of the road car’s 1,200rpm, and needs throwing in the bin after a handful of races.

What’s more, because the AMG One has a modest 11-mile electric range thanks to its 8.4kWh battery, the official economy is 32mpg, with CO2 emissions rated at 198g/km. In the eyes of the official test, this 1,000bhp moonshot is kinder to the environment than a BMW M3.

Stretching the economy will be useful, since the fuel tank is tiny: just 55 litres. Careful on those track days – you might need to do a bit of F1-style fuel-saving and then box, box, box.