The 2,250-HP Cigarette 41′ Nighthawk Boat Is an AMG Black Series for the Water
A deck made completely out of carbon fiber and five outboard V8s help the watercraft reach a top speed of 90 mph.
While Porsche is out at the Nurburgring Nordschleife crushing lap records with a Manthey GT2 RS, Mercedes-AMG is taking life a little easier. The three-pointed star is on the water enjoying its new Cigarette 41' Nighthawk AMG Black Series, a performance boat to go with the AMG GT Black Series performance car.
This Nighthawk is, believe it or not, the 13th boat AMG and Cigarette Racing have worked on together and it features quite a few high-performance and weightsaving measures that sort of make it the AMG GT Black Series of the water. While the car's handcrafted, flat-plane crank V8 produces "only" 720 horsepower, the 41-foot watercraft uses five race-grade outboard engines, specifically 4.6-liter Mercury Racing 450R V8s good for 450 hp each. That's 2,250 hp combined. Granted, the physics of road and sea travel are massively different so the boat's top speed is 90 mph, child's play for the car but a remarkable speed for a luxury boat that can carry more than 10 people.
They haven't just thrown a bunch of big motors at the Nighthawk AMG Black Series and called it a day, though, because it uses a unique twin-step hull design and features a low center of gravity thanks to a hardtop and deck made completely out of carbon fiber. An advanced digital switching system that controls all of the boat's onboard systems cuts down on the amount of cabling needed and, in turn, saves weight. A lithium-ion battery is also said to cut down on the Nighthawk's pounds.
Pricing for the AMG-branded Cigarette boat has not been specified although given the car's $325,000 price tag, we suspect it isn't something anyone who actually has to ask about price has much business buying.
Got a tip or question for the author? You can reach them here: chris.tsui@thedrive.com
