A Mercedes-AMG ONE finally made its way down to Australia thanks to billionaire Lindsay Fox, who has opened up his pride and joy to the public.

When you think of Mercedes-AMG, you might be more inclined to think of Formula 1 legend Lewis Hamilton or Formula 1 maybe-legend George Russel before an Aussie logistics magnate, but in a move that’s sure to fire upon petrolheads all over the continent, Lindsay Fox has put his very rare Mercedes AMG-One on public display in Melbourne.

Before this generous move, your chances of laying eyes on an AMG ONE in the flesh were pretty much next to nil, with just 275 examples produced globally and each one coming in at over $5 million a pop. With most people destined never to get closer to one than lusting over it on social media, Fox says it was a welcome cocktail of his passion for automobiles and philanthropy that inspired him to share his little slice of automotive perfection with the world.

The AMG ONE, An Engineering Marvel

To call the Mercedes-AMG ONE a ‘hypercar’ still sells it somewhat short; it’s a veritable engineering marvel. At its core is a 1.6-liter V6 hybrid petrol engine that knocks out a whopping 782kW of power. The jump from Formula 1 car to a road-legal machine was a big one, and it took several years for the car to finally arrive after the concept was debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2017. And yet, according to Christian Ferrante of the Fox Classic Car Collection, it was well worth the wait. Ferrante called the arrival of the AMG ONE in Australia a “pinch me moment.”

As of today, Thursday, August 1st, visitors will finally have a chance to view the AMG ONE in Docklands, Melbourne. To say this is a unique opportunity is something of an understatement; of the seven or eight AMG ONEsowned by Aussies, this is almost certainly the only one pounters will ever get to see in-person. “To have the AMG ONE here and out in display, not tucked away in some private owner’s garage, is significant,” Ferrante said.

Jerry Stamoulis, Mercedes-Benz Australia’s chief of brand engagement, later confirmed: “To get a Mercedes-AMG ONE, you needed to be one of our most loyal and dedicated customers globally [and seeing one in person is] an entirely different experience.”

Alas, the AMG ONE is such a specialist beast that it can’t be driven on Australian roads… but it can be taken to the race track. Hannah Fox said her grandfather Lindsay had always fantasised about having someone with the driving credentials to match the engineering take it for a spin:

“The dream is to have a person like Daniel Ricciardo drive it at Phillip Island, unleash its potential at least once.”

People who want a view of this par-excellence automobile can do so on Thursdays and Saturdays, with tickets available to book, starting from $16 per person.

The AMG ONE & IWC Schaffhausen

A little-known bonus of owning the AMG ONE is that you get a “free” watch along with it. Back in 2022, IWC Schaffhausen and Mercedes-AMG announced a horological creation almost as unique as the car itself, Big Pilot’s Watch Constant-Force Tourbillon Edition *exclusively* for AMG ONE owners. Equipped with a patented constant-force mechanism to guarantee even impulses of force to the escapement, the case is made from an extremely light yet temperature-resistant titanium aluminide, the same stuff used in high-performance motorsport.

With a constant-force tourbillon at 9 o’clock, a double moon phase display, and a power reserve indicator, the case is inspired by the design language of the AMG ONE and finished with accents in Petronas green, IWC CEO, Christoph Grainger-Herr, explains what makes the piece so special:

“The incorporation of state-of-the-art automotive engineering […] we have created a timepiece that, in equal measure, expresses the pinnacle of watchmaking and material science.”

It’s a bit like getting a toy in your Happy Meal… if your Happy Meal was a $5 million engineering marvel built for F1 heroes.