Everybody loves a very good Seventies remake, however generally, recasting one thing from the disco decade within the fashionable period can really feel misplaced. However when the one thing in query is the fabulous Mercedes-Benz C111 experimental prototype, it’s exhausting to mess issues up an excessive amount of. Something with gullwing doorways, aerodynamic styling, and a hood-mounted star goes to be a knockout. Such is the luck of the newly revealed Mercedes-Benz Imaginative and prescient One-Eleven idea.
Designed and constructed on the firm’s Worldwide Design Middle in Carlsbad, California, the Imaginative and prescient One-Eleven is a transparent homage to that experiment from the Seventies. However whereas the unique, 15-unit run of Mercedes-Benz C111s sported four-rotor rotary, five-cylinder diesel, and turbocharged V8 engines, the most recent idea is a styling train and little else. That’s the one bummer for the in any other case daring, cohesively designed Imaginative and prescient One-Eleven.
The present automotive’s roots are plainly evident within the gullwing doorways, which additionally hearken again to the legendary 1954 300SL, however there are a variety of different particulars that tie the Imaginative and prescient One-Eleven to its forebears. An oval-shaped entrance finish with three hash-mark vents on the corners is an apparent hyperlink to the C111, as are the twin round taillights on the pixelated rear graphic. The dual hood vents painted in black likewise recall the Seventies prototype, although they now lead on to a canopy-style roof.
That’s as a result of, in contrast to the wedgy C111, the Imaginative and prescient One-Eleven makes use of the Mercedes-EQ “one-bow” design language, with a curvy, cab-forward look. The fuselage-style physique appears to be like as if it rests upon the aero equipment, consisting of entrance and aspect splitters and an aggressive rear diffuser, rendering the unique C111’s orange and black shade scheme in a extra useful manner. And at simply 46 inches, the Imaginative and prescient idea is barely about 2 inches taller than its forebear – uncommonly low for an electrical car thanks to at least one neat piece of expertise.
Axial-flux electrical motors designed by firm subsidiary YASA allow the low stance. In distinction to the radial-flux traction motors present in different Mercedes EVs, axial-flux models are 66 p.c extra power-dense, giving engineers extra flexibility as to their placement. Within the Imaginative and prescient One-Eleven, the distinctively bulged wheel arches counsel the axial-flux motors are positioned out close to the wheels, with presumably 4 particular person motors giving it a complete of 1,000 kilowatts (or 1,300 horsepower, in case you like). After all, that is all theoretical, because the Imaginative and prescient One-Eleven is a styling train, not a powertrain testbed.
The low stance enabled by the skinny electrical motors pays dividends within the cabin, the place the Imaginative and prescient One-Eleven’s silver, orange, and white shade scheme is a pure Seventies Dreamsicle. Low bucket seats place the occupants’ ft above their backsides, as in a System 1 racing automotive, however there’s an ethereal really feel to the cabin because of the full-length cover glass, slim dashboard that’s open close to the bottom of the windshield, and the hex-screened aspect glass. Theoretically, the Imaginative and prescient One-Eleven may have an augmented-reality inside, with digital buttons for the infotainment and navigation floating above clean surfaces.
Mercedes-Benz hasn’t introduced if its newest idea is a foretelling of issues to return from the model, but it surely doesn’t appear possible that the automaker will deliver out a low-slung, absolutely electrical gullwing supercar any time quickly. Nonetheless, parts of the Imaginative and prescient One-Eleven will seem in future Mercedes autos, with YASA axial-flux electrical motors destined for AMG productsw because of their comparatively mild weight and excessive output. So whereas the Imaginative and prescient One-Eleven will possible be confined to a present stand for its whole life, it’s nonetheless enjoyable to see Mercedes-Benz embracing its previous in such a forward-looking design.
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