Today the word ?hypercar? brings to mind some of the world’s top-performing machinery, such as the McLaren P1, Porsche 918, and Ferrari LaFerrari. The upcoming Aston Martin/Red Bull AM-RB oo1 and the F1-powered Mercedes-AMG aim to go beyond even those cars’ extraordinary abilities. But the word “hypercar” wasn’t always defined this way; back in the early 1990s, a hypercar was what proponents called the earth-saving conveyances they imagined for the future?ultralight, aerodynamically radical, made with advanced lightweight materials, and potentially packing a hybrid powertrain with a super-high-efficiency engine.
With the as yet unnamed F1-powered speeding bullet from Mercedes-AMG, these two definitions could merge. At the Los Angeles auto show, we caught up with the chief executive of AMG, Tobias Moers, to learn a few more details about the project. It’s shaping up to be a roadgoing F1 race car brought just inside the bounds of what?s legal for sale as a passenger vehicle. And, as it turns out, it also could be remarkably fuel-efficient. Moers emphasized that the goal for the circa $2 million flagship performance car, which is likely to arrive by early 2019 and be produced in mere hundreds (depending on interest), is that it won?t just go fast; it also will serve as a showcase for the bevy of efficiency gains and technology leaps made by F1 in recent years.
?To put it in just one sentence: outstanding performance with more than impress...