Hot! ***Mercedes-Benz Museum (Part 12): CONCEPT CARS***

[cawimmer430]

Part 12

Mercedes-Benz Concept Cars


1970 Mercedes-Benz C111 Typ II
Mercedes-Benz presented the C111 at the 1969 Frankfurt International Motor Show. With its wedge-shaped bodywork, gullwing doors and rotary-piston-engine (Wankel), the "research lab on wheels" intrigued visitors. Quite a few customers wanted to buy the C111 on the spot and offered blank checks - in vain: the C111 was and remained an experimental car.
4 x 2400cc, 350-horsepower @ 7,000 RPM

1991 Mercedes-Benz F100
The F100 was Mercedes-Benz's vision of the future car at the 1991 Detroit Auto Show. Many innovations in this car were developed to production maturity at a later stage, among them the rain sensor, the intelligent cruise system, xenon headlights and sandwich floor. Other special features of the F100 are the centrally arranged driver's seat and the novel door concept.
V6, 2600cc, 194-horsepower @ 5,100 RPM

1996 Mercedes-Benz F200 Imagination
The F200 Imagination was shown to the public in 1996 at the Paris Motor Show. Mercedes-Benz primarily tested new ergonomic concepts with the car such as small sidesticks in the doors to act as the steering mechanism for the car. The system used was an early example of drive-by-wire technology. The F200 also featured the newly developed Active Suspension, which would mature into the ABC suspension system.
V12, 5987cc, 394-horsepower @ 5,200 RPM

2001 Mercedes-Benz F400 Carving
The F400 Carving was presented by Mercedes-Benz at the 2001 Tokyo Motor Show. It was used to test new dynamic handling control systems in conjunction with active camber control. With this new technology, the outer wheels of the F400 tilt at an angle of up to 20 degrees when cornering - hence the name of the vehicle.
V6, 3199cc, 218-horsepower @ 5,700 RPM

2003 Mercedes-Benz F500 Mind
Mercedes-Benz presented the F500 Mind at the 2003 Tokyo Motor Show. In this car, the interplay of man and machine was optimized by a novel of control and display concept with segmented steering wheel, input-sensitive accelerator and brake pedals and a multi-vision display. A test vehicle for alternative propulsion systems, the F500 is powered by a diesel-hybrid engine.
V8, 3989cc, 250-horsepower @ 4,000 RPM

 

[ree]

Mercedes really had some great concept cars - but nothing tops the C111! It was in my opinion a great combination of design, colour, technology and emotion!

 

[bmer]

Mercedes really had some great concept cars - but nothing tops the C111! It was in my opinion a great combination of design, colour, technology and emotion!

I have to agree with ree. The C111 still amazingly looks modern. The shape is not very much typical Mercedes-Benz but looks more like an American or Italian supercar. And I think it's great that MB has a concept like this, challenging the expectations what people have of Mercedes' design. On top of that it also presents MB's passion for experimenting almost every promising technology.

 

[Bruce]

I love that F400 Carving as it reminds me of a MB version of the Lotus 340R.

As for that F100... Hadn't heard of it before. What a (ugly) beast.

 

[vabboud]

isn't the F100 the concept that became the ugliest beast of them all, the ML?

 

[ree]

Wow! I have never realised that the F200 headlights looks exactly like the ones of the W220 S-Class...
...and I can remember that I was a great fan of this concept when it was "brand new". I was impressed by the technology and because I didn't drive cars (only on my PC) at that time, wished that the joystick will become reality...

 

[cawimmer430]

isn't the F100 the concept that became the ugliest beast of them all, the ML?

Design wise, nope. A lot of technology from the F100 was developed into mass-production and found its way into many MBs. I'm sure a lot of features and technology also went into the W163 M-Class.



And guys, I love the C111 too! I so wish MB had made that car! It looked like no other Mercedes at the time and had a sort of "in your face" look. It was also fast as sin capable of reaching 100 km/h in under 5 seconds!