Schiranna, Italy - MV Agusta’s tie-up with Mercedes-AMG may be a thing of the past, but its friendly relationship with the three-pointed star’s top driver isn’t, if this limited-edition model is anything to go by.
The 2018 Lewis Hamilton Edition Brutale 800 RR, styled in collaboration between the Formula One world champion and MV Agusta’s Castiglioni Research Centre. It’s finished in Hamilton’s favourite colour scheme - black, red and white - with lots of genuine carbon-fibre body bits and Hamilton’s racing number, 44, on the radiator shrouds.
The Hamilton Edition is mechanically standard (103kW at 12 300rpm, 86Nm at 10 100rpm, counter-rotating crankshaft and standard-fit quickshift) but comes with a raft of special kit, including a fuel cap, oil filler cap, clutch cover guard and and alternator guard, brake fluid reservoir caps, and handlebar levers all machined out of solid chunks of aircraft-grade aluminium alloy - still the most accurate (and most expensive) way to make anything - and weighs in at 172kg dry.
The stainless-steel triple exhaust system has been finished in a special ceramic-based heat-resistant black coating.
Just 144 examples of the new Hamilton Edition will be made, in another reference to Hamilton’s racing number; each will have its serial number printed in white on the on the carbon-fibre headlight shroud (the bike in these pictures is the prototype, marked 01/144) and will come with a numbered certificate of authenticity.
Production is due to start in the third quarter of 2018; pricing will start at an eyewatering €24 144 (R356 695) ex works, a massive €8000 (R118 000) more expensive than the standard model, which sells for R320 000 in South Africa. Local importer Cayenne is willing to order you a Hamilton Edtion, at and indicative price of 'around R420 000'.