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The boat to match your Mercedes-AMG Project One

The Cigarette Racing 515 Project One will rule the seas

Probably the most obscene phallic object your money can buy right now. PHOTO FROM MERCEDES-BENZ

Imagine this scenario: You’re a billionaire who placed an order for a Mercedes-AMG Project One supercar, but then you realize that your boat down at the marina will clash with your soon-to-arrive toy appearance-wise. Even worse: Your boat is just so much slower than your next car. Annoying, isn’t it? Well, worry no more. The performance specialists from AMG and American powerboat maker Cigarette Racing have teamed up to bring you a ride that will translate the supercar experience from land to water.

By land or by sea? What a dilemma to have. PHOTOS FROM MERCEDES-BENZ

Meet the Cigarette Racing 515 Project One inspired by Mercedes-AMG, a 15m-long and almost 3m-wide racing boat that has space for six passengers and was constructed using a combination of carbon fiber, aramid and E-glass. Where the AMG Project One road car has a 1.6-liter V6 hybrid setup that produces around 1,000hp, the 515 Project One banks on raw gasoline power and utilizes not one but two Mercury quad-cam, four-valve, staggered racing engines that each unleash up to 1,550hp, propelling its wealthy passengers up to a hairpiece-removing top speed of 225km/h.

There is also a Leisure Mode—in which engine power is cut back to only 1,350hp per engine—for those times when you prefer to take things a little more slowly, allowing this maritime monster to run on 91-octane fuel instead of the racing juice required if you want to go full Mad Max.

How about a pair of 1,550hp racing engines to propel your boat around? PHOTO FROM MERCEDES-BENZ

While it may seem odd that a car manufacturer and a boat maker work together in such a way, the cooperation between Mercedes-AMG and Cigarette Racing is actually nothing new and has been going on for 11 years now. There clearly is considerable cross-selling potential between the customer bases of the two brands, and while the press statement does point out the way AMG contributed design and material ideas for the boat, it really is mostly a marketing exercise—admittedly a very pretty one.

Only the most luxurious materials for a special-edition powerboat, of course. PHOTOS FROM MERCEDES-BENZ

The designers of the boat are said to have taken inspiration from the land-bound Project One, with the most visible similarities being the matte-black and silver paint job as well as the prominent AMG and Project One logos. The only other thing the two vehicles really have in common is the Dinamica fabric used for the seats. That and the exorbitant price tag, of course, which Cigarette Racing will only reveal upon request. Not that it matters: Anyone who’s looking for a boat to go with his supercar will likely have a bank balance that’s bigger than the GDP of some small countries, making the price a mere number without real meaning.



Frank Schuengel

Frank is a German e-commerce executive who loves his wife, a Filipina, so much he decided to base himself in Manila. He has interesting thoughts on Philippine motoring. He writes the aptly named ‘Frankly’ column.



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