Further up, about a third of the way down the bridge, was the main stage. It was constructed like a highway overpass, with stepped standing areas on either side and a big central viewing area, forming a tunnel below. At the entrance sat a GT63 coupe with a Polizei wrap and emergency lights. As the sun was getting ready to set, I grabbed myself a good spot right along the edge, having been tipped off by Mercedes PR where the hosts, band, and cars were going to be. What looked like a huge highway sign was one big display screen, which was used for the event countdown, to show infographics and images, and project a live camera feed of the event.
The sun set and the event began, with Källenius coming out first as the screen showed a graphic of the Hollywood sign. He waxed poetic about reasons people love LA, chief among them the city’s amazing driving roads, and talked about how the country’s first freeway was constructed here. He made some jokes about LA traffic, mentioning how Germany gets traffic jams too, but at least they have the Autobahn. “You don’t have that here in LA, do you?” No, Ola, we don’t, thanks for rubbing it in. “Good thing we brought the German Autobahn with us, and you’re standing right on it.” Mercedes had even installed the round signs for unrestricted sections to the bridge. He described the team’s pitch for the event as being “next-level madness, but then, it’s the world premiere of an AMG. An AMG has never been about doing what’s expected; it’s always been about being bold and pushing limits — sometimes a little further than seems reasonable.”
Daniel Golson/Jalopnik
After a bit more talk about the GT XX concept, Schiebe came out to really get into some of the GT’s technical details. I laughed when the big screen showed the axial-flux motors and complex battery technology, and could definitely tell the majority of the crowd was getting a bit antsy. Luckily, just a few minutes later, the real show began. After a brief film was shown, an electro-lime GT 4-Door drove up through the tunnel, got into position, and then blasted off the line, making shouty V8 noises as it did so. Then a second GT came up behind, pulled off a lurid instant burnout, and rocketed off down the bridge. A moment later, a third one drove out and, you guessed it, launched. Someone from Mercedes told me they wanted to remove all of the yellow bulges, rumble strips, and safety lights on the bridge, but the city said “yeah, no,” thus why there were no donuts spun or other more dynamic sorts of driving. I mean, those burnouts were impressive enough.
When the cars drove back up towards us and parked, with a dozen columns of flame shooting off behind, Brad Pitt and F1 driver George Russell got out of the passenger seats. Brad walked away, but since George is contractually obligated to do these sorts of things, he stayed on stage to talk about it. Russell has actually been a part of this car’s development, even doing some stints in the GT XX’s record run, and he described it as being the fastest car he’s ever driven, something people really need to experience for themselves. (He also said they hit 160 mph driving down the bridge earlier in the day.)
“Did you see his smile when he got out of the car? That pretty much I think said it all,” Schiebe said, “And we are seeing that same smile literally on everyone who has been able to experience it. I think that is so important, because ultimately that is what a sports car is about.” They continued to talk more about the car and its development, and how AMG strived to make it not only as good as its V8 cars, but that it had to be better. “When I drove this car for the first time, it really felt like I was driving a V8, and it just flew off the line,” Russell said a couple of minutes later into the conversation. “It’s really difficult to put into words; I don’t even put this into the category of an EV, it’s in a totally different stratosphere to anything I’ve driven in a road car before. This is definitely the real thing.”
