Cigarette's homage to AMG gullwing

Skip Braver, the president and CEO of the US offshore powerboat company Cigarette, has long been a dedicated fan of the Mercedes Benz cars produced by the builder's performance offshoot, AMG.

So when he learned that AMG were building their first Merc from the ground up, rather than modifying an existing model, he couldn't wait to get hold of one. The gullwing bodied AMG Mercedes Benz SLS, one of the fastest sportscars in the world, wasn't officially released until earlier this year -- but Braver was given a preview of the 6.3-litre, 420kW, 318km/h rocket.

He was so inspired that he decided to build a new Cigarette Racing Team boat to complement the car -- and he didn't hold back. Now well-heeled sporting types can have an AMG SLS in the garage and drive it down to their dock and jump aboard a Cigarette 46 AMG -- a five seater sports boat with a top speed of 209km/h, or about 130 mph.

The new Cigarette was built around Mercury Racing's twin turbo, quad cam, 1350hp engine, which despite its enormous performance runs on regular unleaded petrol and which requires one third less service than most high performance boat engines.

“These 1350hp engines just purr like a big exotic cat,” Braver says, “The performance epitomises the partnerships and synergy we have with Mercury Racing and AMG. We all have our hearts in building only the best.”

Mercedes Benz AMG came up with a distinctive new colour, Alubeam silver, for its exotic sportscar and Braver copied that and the AMG racing logo for the paintjob on the Cigarette 46 AMG.

The hull of the new boat follows the usual Cigarette lines and offers high speeds with a comfortable ride and remarkable offshore ability. Braver says it is the smoothest and fastest Cigarette yet.

While it is not something Cigarette boasts about, most of the high speed boats used to smuggle drugs into the US from South America are Cigarettes. US law enforcement authorities now also use Cigarettes as interceptors.

The Cigarette 46 AMG is not a lavish vessel. While it has five seats for the pilot and crew, the large forward cabin is sparce with just two minimalist bunks.

The gullwing SLS AMG, which does 0-60mph in just 3.7 seconds, is built with exotic materials to keep its weight down and to improve performacne. Its top speed is electronically limited to 198mph and it costs less than half some of its rival supercars.

Check out CigaretteRacing.com for more details.