When automotive manufacturers comply with collaborate with eccentric A-listers to create one-off cars, the outcomes are often a bit bonkers.
And that is definitely the case with the brand new Mercedes-AMG unveiled on the inaugural Formula One Grand Prix in Miami this weekend.
It has been designed for Black Eyed Peas rapper, will.i.am, and is named ‘The Flip’.
While it’s based on the German marque’s AMG GT 4-Door, it has just two massive rear-hinged doors and the grille from the brand’s enormous G-Wagon. It definitely looks… different.
The need.i.AMG: That is the one-off Mercedes co-created by the German brand and rapper will.i.am. Underneath is a £170k AMG GT 4-Door while the remaining of the design is divisive
The unique motor began life because the £173,705 four-door coupe but has received a bunch of modifications, with the assistance of West Coast Customers – the corporate made famous by noughties MTV hit show Pimp My Ride.
The music artist, who Britons most recently know best for being a judge on The Voice TV show, is a self-professed automotive nut and even has his very own motor company called IAMAUTO.
He and Mercedes said this latest creation is a ‘visible symbol of the goals’ to ‘boldly drive forward recent ideas, push boundaries and dare to do the not possible’.
Activities surrounding The Flip will help to supporting disadvantaged students via the artist’s Angel Foundation, which promotes STEAM-based careers (science, technology, engineering, arts and maths).
Under the bonnet is alleged to be one in every of the AMG powerplant you’ll find in the usual automotive sold in Mercedes showrooms – though there is not confirmation of which powerplant it uses.
We expect it prone to be either the twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 from the GT 63 S variant, which produces 630bhp, or the setup from the 63 S E-Performance with hybrid assistance, which boasts 831bhp.
Called ‘The Flip’, it has been unveiled on the inaugural Formula One Grand Prix in Miami this weekend
The vehicle’s big party piece is its doors. It has just two as a substitute of 4 and so they are rear-hinged, meaning they open just like a Rolls-Royce Wraith
Speaking about unique motor on the US unveiling, will.i.am said: ‘For quite a lot of inner-city kids, owning a Mercedes is a logo of progress and advancing out of struggle.
‘Now I’ve reached my goal and pushed even higher by re-imagining and creating my very own vision of an AMG model.
‘But I didn’t touch the engine, because AMG really does make one of the best engines.’
Available to assist the singer takes the covers off the bespoke vehicle were a bunch of celebrity guests, including Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 driver and eight-time World Champion, Lewis Hamilton, alongside big name A-listers including Ludacris and Jamie Foxx.
Lewis Hamilton and can.i.am onstage before the automotive’s unveiling on the pre-Miami GP event hosted by the Mercedes-AMG Experience Centre on Thursday
The event had various star-studded guests, including rapper and Fast and Furious star, Ludacris
Actor and Grammy-award-winning artist Jamie Foxx also made an appearance on the event where ‘The Flip’ was unveiled to the world. It’s a one-off creation… fortunately
While proportionally The Flip is in-keeping with the massive – and potent – coupes Mercedes currently sells, reminiscent of having a low roofline and long bonnet, a number of the details are very much left field.
What you’ll probably notice first is the automotive’s particularly odd-looking front end, which looks prefer it has been transferred from the G-Class SUV with the singer’s ‘Bear Witness’ logo emblazoned in the course of the closed-off grille.
There’s also a clamshell bonnet with a narrow central crease that expands over the roofline to create a split glass roof design.
However the vehicle’s biggest party piece is its doors.
Out go the 4 from the usual automotive and, benefiting from the resulting massive aperture, as an alternative is only one door on all sides.
These are rear-hinged, meaning they open towards those of a Rolls-Royce Wraith.
What you’ll probably notice first is the automotive’s particularly odd-looking front end, which looks prefer it has been transferred from the G-Class SUV
Activities surrounding The Flip will help to supporting disadvantaged students via the artist’s Angel Foundation
The remainder of the automotive’s silhouette features very squared-off edges, especially across the front wings, while the wheels are based heavily on AMG’s famous ‘monoblock’ rims that were all of the rave many years ago.
There aren’t any images of the back end of the automotive, but a teaser video shared by the motor brand shows a pair of sleek LED tail lights just like those of the usual AMG GT 4-Door.
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The cabin also hasn’t been shown yet, but we do realize it mixes cream and black upholstery which is complimented by diamond-stitching.
This is not the primary time Mercedes has worked with artists outside the automotive sector.
In December, it released images of its final collaboration with the late fashion visionary, Virgil Abloh, called the Project Maybach.
The fully-electric vehicle was the second creation Abloh penned with Mercedes-Benz, with the German maker given permission by the designer’s family to release details of the automotive following the Louis Vuitton Artistic Creator’s death late last 12 months following a personal battle with cancer.
The striking motor took a luxury-soaked Maybach – the limousine arm of the Mercedes business – and made it able to taking over all types of terrain, with a raised ride-height, off-road wheels, safari lights and desert-raid livery like nothing else we have seen before.
Virgil Abloh’s vision for a luxury off-road coupe: Project Maybach is a two-seat premium limo designed in collaboration by Mercedes-Benz and the late dressmaker
The striking motor takes a normally luxury-soaked Maybach – the limousine arm of the Mercedes business – and makes it able to taking over all types of terrain
Project Maybach is solely an idea model and unlikely to enter production. It would remain a tribute to Abloh’s automotive vision
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