Mercedes-AMG R50:: ‘It’s perfect’
The hotly anticipated Mercedes-AMG R50 hypercar will be clearly distinguishable as a product of the three-pointed star brand, the company’s chief design officer has revealed.
Speaking with CarAdvice at CES 2017, Gorden Wagener – the chief penman for the company who signs off on every new model launched under the Mercedes badge – said the new hypercar was a fulfilling project to lead.
“The car is very clean and pure, but also very extreme,” he said.
As with all hypercars, the aggressively styled new offering, which will be powered by a formula one drivetrain, will be extremely low and broad across the body – proportions that are a designer’s dream, according to Wagener.
“Such a proportion is almost like you have a penalty shot in soccer without a goalkeeper,” he said. “You can’t do much wrong, because it’s low, it’s wide – it’s perfect, it’s stunning.”
But as with all new car designs, there were challenges facing the designers of the Mercedes-AMG R50 (if that’s what it’s going to be called).
“The hard part is what makes it different to all other super or hypercars that are out there,” Wagener said.
“What makes it the Mercedes of the hypercar, and always relates it to formula one?” he posited. “I think this is a very special car – it happens maybe once every 50 years or so, so you truly make a statement in history here. And you’d better do it good, yeah?”
There have been two teaser sketches of the new model – which celebrates 50 years of AMG – released by the company, and Wagener indicated these are realistic interpretations of what we can expect to see when the car is revealed later this year.
“I think what we came up with is fantastic,” he said.
As for what elements of formula one technology – aside from the drivetrain – we will see in the production vehicle, Wagener didn’t divulge too much. But it is expected that it will feature active aerodynamics, and a roof pod. It will also have more than just a driver’s seat.
“It's not a monoposto,” Wagener said. That’s not to say it will be practical, either: but we’ll just have to wait and see when the new hypercar is revealed in the coming months.
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