Mercedes Makes Project One Hybrid Supercar Buyers Sign Ownership Contract
Plan on profiting from your Project One hypercar purchase? Think again. You may be keeping it for awhile.
The eagerly-anticipated Mercedes-AMG Project One will be limited to just 275 units, ensuring high demand for the once-in-a-generation hypercar. If this was any other machine, there would be a small list of buyers ready to sell their place in line for a premium, and a similar list of buyers ready to do the same immediately after taking delivery.
Mercedes-AMG, though, is doing what they can to prevent others from profiting off of their hard work. According to Car Throttle, Mercedes is requiring buyers sign a contract that effectively stipulates when and how they can sell the car, like Ford did with their new GT supercar not too long ago.
It’s a controversial move for sure. Apparently the agreement will contain a minimum length of ownership clause, meaning that owners will have to wait a period of time before selling the car.
We generally prefer to let the free market sort these things out on their own, but it’s true that speculators have damaged the collector car market by making huge sums of money for doing nothing but getting added to a list and paying a deposit.
As car enthusiasts, we hate the way that these fantastic machines are used simply to line someone else’s pockets at the expense of passion and fun.
Realistically, the owners won’t be hurt by the agreement. It just means that those who are truly passionate will be the ones making money back on their investment after so many years as opposed to some glorified flipper.
It does seem odd to agree to someone else’s terms of use when buying a product, but we already do the same for movies, television, books, and art. While the aims of the laws are different, they’re still dictating how a product can be used after purchase.
What say you? Is this a bad move by Mercedes-AMG, or do you hate speculators as much as they do?
