Mercedes is currently working on a hypercar that will be inspired by the unit's current Formula 1 car, the company revealed in a press conference at the Paris Motor Show.
"In the past Formula one cars and road cars were separate. Now these are moving closer together," said Daimler board member Thomas Weber at the sidelines of the event. Weber is the board member who is tasked with development at Mercedes-Benz.
The hypercar, which will begin production in about two and a half years, will feature the powertrain that is currently being used by the Formula 1 car of Mercedes-Benz in the current season of the racing championship.
The gearbox of the hypercar will be modified, with the vehicle's body to be made out of carbon fiber. Mercedes is also said to be targeting a 1:1 power-to-weight ratio for the vehicle, with gullwing doors similar to what can be seen in the Model X electric SUV of Tesla Motors.
In essence, the hypercar will be a Formula 1 racer that will be legal on the streets, and with two seats instead of just one. Insiders have dubbed the vehicle the R50, according to Car Magazine.
Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, did not release further details on the hypercar, including expected price, top speed or horsepower. However, it did reveal that the project was made up of teams coming from the Mercedes-Benz AMG division and engineers from the company's Formula 1 team.
The involvement of AMG and the United Kingdom-based Formula 1 team of Mercedes-Benz was also reported by Andrew Frankel, a freelance auto journalist. Frankel also took a photo of the announcement of the hypercar that showed a sleek-looking image that is being associated with the vehicle.
AMG is a unit under Mercedes-Benz that produces more powerful versions of the S-Class limousine, the G-class offroader and the A-Class and B-Class compact vehicles. The division is expecting increase in sales this year after shipping 70,000 cars last year, up from 32,200 cars in 2013 due to the flagship AMG-GT, which took on luxury brand Porsche with a price tag of about $130,000.
In addition to the announcement of the hypercar, Daimler said that it is looking to expand the range of Mercedes-AMG performance vehicles by at least 10 models, increasing the choices of AMG performance cars to at least 48 options.
At the Paris Motor Show, the new Mercedes-AMG GT Roadster was also unveiled. The vehicle, as previously reported, packs 469 horsepower and is capable of going from zero to 60 miles per hour in just 3.9 seconds.
