If only for that noise of course. The engine – just like the one Lewis Hamilton uses – may be only 1.6 litres but it has a red line of 11,000rpm. It serves up 858bhp to the rear wheels, with the hybrid electric side adding more horses to take the total up to 1000PS, (992bhp).
It is unlikely all that power will be much use on the A508 to Market Harborough, or anywhere around Brixworth in fact where opportunities on public roads to get from 0-124mph in six seconds or hit 218mph flat out are limited.
Mercedes doesn’t say, but we can assume the trials are far more a test of the car’s driveability in real world conditions, including its zero emissions ability to trundle around silently on electric power alone for up to 15 miles. So perhaps the residents of Brixworth won’t hear it coming after all…
Mercedes says the public roads testing comes after months of “virtual testing”, engine dyno trials and high-speed development work on a UK test track. Two hundred and seventy five Project Ones are due to be made, costing £2.1 million each.