After what seems like the longest gestation period in automotive history, the much-hyped Mercedes-AMG ONE (unveiled at the 2017 Frankfurt motor show) is finally on the verge of being a production reality, with deliveries of the limited-edition hypercar commencing in the second half of this year.
Porsche has dusted off its hallowed Sport Classic nameplate with a tasty retro-laced take on the current-gen (992 Series) 911, with just 1,250 units set to be crafted by Porsche’s Exclusive Manufaktur division that rolls out bespoke cars.
Mercedes typically rolls out an all-new SL (Sports Light) only once every decade – the R107 generation endured almost twice that duration – so the unveiling of each successive iteration is eagerly anticipated.
If ever there were roads least suited to a hypercar, here they are. The ribbon of tarmac that stretches ahead is littered with an assortment of lumps and bumps, with some sections of bitumen having crumbled away altogether. The snaking route is also so narrow in parts that there’s just enough space for two cars to pass in opposing directions without rubbing shoulders.
There’s no denying the Bentley Bentayga has polarising looks, yet it’s been a solid sales success for the Crewe-based premium brand. The leather-lined behemoth recorded an 18 percent year-on-on-year increase in sales in 2019 and accounted for 45 per cent of the company’s production volume last year.
Every single Bugatti model since the Veyron debuted back in 2005 has been capable of topping 400 kph. So, it might seem a regressive step for the hypercar purveyor to roll out an extravagantly priced low-volume offering with a v-max of just 350 kph.
A complete mental recalibration is called for. This is just the first three-quarter-throttle squirt out of the pitlane and onto the front straight of the Dubai Autodrome, yet it’s already evident the forward thrust being served up here is on the gob-smacking end of the scale. It feels as though I’ve been implanted in a movie that’s playing in fast forward, and the grey matter is still trying to comprehend this madness.
Remember the Ssangyong Actyon? Distinguished by a roofline that tapered sharply at the rear, it was arguably the first SUV-coupe in the world. The only problem? It wasn’t particularly good, which meant it never sold in significant numbers, so the Korean carmaker quietly laid it to rest in 2010 after a five-year production run.
Tesla has played a lone hand in the premium performance EV segment for the past several years, but the genre is now starting to gain critical mass, with virtually every mainstream prestige manufacturer pouring massive investments into developing and marketing battery-powered offerings.
Electrification was the overriding theme at this year’s Frankfurt motor show, and virtually every brand represented (there were far fewer this year) headlined their presentation with one or more battery-powered offerings.