It's quite a heartwarming sight to see a medic wearing a racing helmet and piloting Mercedes-Benz AMG's version of a hot-rod ambulance. The Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Estate Official F1 Medical Car has hit the track and promises to be a fixture at the 18 Formula 1 races this season.
The German automaker says "the high-speed AMG estate car will follow the Formula 1 field on the first lap. This is because the first lap represents a critical phase of the race in which the field of Formula 1 vehicles is especially tightly bunched." The premise behind the AMG ambulance is "to guarantee the fastest possible emergency treatment," according to Mercedes-Benz.
The medical car is powered by AMG's 6.3-liter V8, which churns out 457 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque. It is linked to the AMG Speedshift 7G-Tronic Plus transmission. Details include an AMG sport exhaust system with larger pipe diameters, 19-inch AMG light alloy wheels and new rear silencers. Exterior touches include F1 logos, a roof bar and strobelike LED flashing lights in the front and rear.
The cabin has AMG sports bucket seats with four-point seatbelts, two monitors in the center console to supervise action on the track and an onboard two-way radio system linked to track management. The cargo hold is equipped with a defibrillator and a respirator.
What this means to you: Too bad these aren't standard-issue ambulances in the real world. — Anita Lienert, edmunds.com Correspondent
