Advertisement
BBC TopGear
BBC TopGear
Subscribe to Top Gear newsletter
Sign up now for more news, reviews and exclusives from Top Gear.
Subscribe
Weird

This one-off AMG Black Series boat has five engines and 2,250bhp

Ocean-going Black Series show what’s possible with a quintet of supercharged V8s

Published: 29 Jun 2021

Cigarette Racing isn’t a new form of motorsport where people chuff away on carcinogenic sticks as rapidly as possible. That’d be silly. No, Cigarette Racing is an esteemed cigarette boat manufacturer (don’t worry, the boats aren’t made of cigarettes, either – they’re just long and thin so look like them) who has forged quite a partnership with AMG, producing a line of really, really fast, really, really powerful boats to match Affalterbach’s really, really, fast, really, really, powerful Mercedes.

For their 13th collabo, Cigarette Racing has taken inspiration from the AMG GT Black Series; the 730bhp, twin-turbo V8 track monster that tore up the Nurburgring last year to become fastest production car ever to lap the legendary German track. A title it has since lost to Porsche, who recently unleased a 691bhp 911 GT2 RS – fitted with a new ‘Manthey Performance Kit’ – and clocked a  6m 43.3s around the ‘official’ 20.832km circuit – just under five seconds faster than the Black Series.

Advertisement - Page continues below

But don’t let that put you off. Remember that the Black Series is the most powerful and track-focused AMG ever. And when you translate that mantra and brief to the open water, you get an ocean-going hi-vis monster.

Dubbed the Nighthawk AMG Black Series, like its four-wheeled inspiration, the boat features plenty of techy engineering and power to make it really fast. There’s plenty of carbon fibre componentry, and to improve its handling, it features a twin-step hull, which must be the nautical equivalent to the Black Series’ active double-decker wing. Where the car only has one V8 engine, the Nighthawk has five. Yes, five. And they’re all supercharged. This family of 4.6-litre V8 outboards hang off the back and are good for 2,250bhp – which is quite a bit more than the car.

That doesn’t mean it’s faster, though. Cigarette Racing claims a 90mph top speed, where the four-wheeled Black Series stops at 202mph. But then again, the boat also takes up to 10 passengers. Which is more than a Mercedes V-Class. And has bow thrusters for easy parking. Five stars for practicality, then.

As it’s a one-off and already sold, there’s no word on pricing. But we reckon you could get a handful of £335,000 AMG GT Black Series for the price. You can’t deny as a combo it’s pretty cool though. You could say it really floats our boat. Get it? Oh, go away you bore.

Advertisement - Page continues below

Top Gear
Newsletter

Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox.

More from Top Gear

Loading
See more on AMG GT

Subscribe to the Top Gear Newsletter

Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, you agree to receive news, promotions and offers by email from Top Gear and BBC Studios. Your information will be used in accordance with our privacy policy.

BBC TopGear

Try BBC Top Gear Magazine

subscribe