Will.i.am’s Latest Creation Is A G-Class-Inspired Mercedes-AMG GT

Will.i.am has a history of designing weird and wacky cars, and the musician has once again got his hands dirty with this highly modified AMG GT-4 Door Coupé named “The Flip”. This retro-inspired Mercedes-AMG is the sixth car to emerge from collaborations between Will.i.am and Mercedes-AMG, and it will undoubtedly divide opinion with its unusual design.

The transformation was undertaken by Californian-based car-meddler West Coast Customs in conjunction with Mercedes-AMG, with design cues taken from the G-Class SUV as well as the SLS Gullwing supercar. The car features some radical design cues, such as rear-opening suicide doors, fat-five spoke alloy wheels that hark back to AMG models of the 1990s, and the G-Series inspired front end with a bear face icon, dubbed “BEAR-WITNESS” in place of the Mercedes three-pointed star logo.

Performance figures for the “WILL.I.AMG” (Mercedes-AMG’s words, not ours) are so far unclear, though Will.i.am stated: “I didn’t touch the engine, because AMG really does make the best engines”. This suggests the car is likely powered by either the 362bhp inline-six from the AMG GT 43 or the 630bhp bi-turbo V8 found in the GT 63 S.

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The project, fully named “The Flip – Innovation for Purpose”, has been designed alongside a range of limited-edition apparel and accessories called the BEAR WITNESS collection, which will be available to buy at the Mercedes-AMG Experience Center in Miami and online on May 6. A portion of the proceeds will go towards the musician’s Angel Foundation, which aims to provide STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and maths) education to those from disadvantaged communities to equip them with the skills required for future-focused jobs.

A six-part documentary series named “DRIVE” has also been created as part of the project, documenting the process of the machine’s creation. “DRIVE” will debut at the Cannes film festival later this year.

The retro-inspired Merc may be unusual, but it’s nowhere near as bad as this awful Will.i.am widebody Tesla we saw a few years ago.