Last week, Mercedes-AMG teased a one-off sportscar created in collaboration with artist and entrepreneur Will.I.Am. The vehicle has now been revealed, and it's a one-off luxury coupe, known as The Flip.
The artist and producer is known to have an interest in cars, and while he's had custom builds and collabs done before, The Flip is something more.
It's a heavily modified Mercedes-Benz AMG GT 4-Door Coupe, the build of which was done by West Coast Customs.
It has the face of a G-Wagen, reverse-hinged doors, and branding for Will.I.Am's newest clothing line, Bear Witness, instead of the typical Mercedes badge.
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For Will.I.Am, the car means more to him than the status of owning a luxury or performance vehicle.
He says "I grew up with hip hop. I watched legendary hip hop artist[s] rap about Mercedes, so it was always a dream to own a Mercedes. For a lot of inner-city kids, owning a Mercedes is a symbol of progress and advancing out of struggle."
View Mercedes-Benz AMG listings on Driven
"I come from The Projects, I lived in Boyle Heights for 27 years. My mom grew up in The Projects and she was there for 50 years. Yes, I had a headstart because the music was my entry point into building, because of my music success, but what it tells them is that most of the people who built the car are Black and Brown.
Our predicament and configuration, the way it’s told, does not mean it has to be that way forever... Lewis Hamilton is proof—he joined a profession that Black people weren’t in, and dominated it."
The best part about this story is that the car was built for auction with the proceeds going to help impoverished students access better, more future-forward education.
