Mercedes-Benz has gone on social media to tease what appears to be a revival of the C-111. The experimental cars built between 1969-70 were meant to showcase the German automaker’s latest technology. Now, a new version will soon arrive to define a new level of luxury.
The original C-111 had an aerodynamic wedge shape, gull-wing doors, and a mid-mounted engine. The original versions used a four-rotor Wankel engine that reportedly took the car to a top speed of 300 kph (186 mph). However, after a couple of prototypes, the rotary mill was abandoned and subsequent examples used diesel and gasoline engines in a variety of cylinder configurations. A total of 16 were built, and despite some high-profile appearances at international auto shows, the C-111 never made it to production.
Clues that the teased car is a C-111 revival include a distinctive shade of ochre that recalls the original. There’s also a digital rear graphic with twin round taillights that hearken back to the prototype. If that’s not convincing enough, a video shows the same rear panel spelling out “One Eleven” with LEDs.
The images come from the desk of Gorden Wagener, the chief design officer at Daimler. Accompanying captions ask, “Are you ready for the reimagined icon?” and “Are you ready for ICONIC LUXURY?” Ignoring the overuse of the word “iconic,” it seems that the car will point the direction for Mercedes-Benz’s next era of automotive extravagance.
We can’t imagine that the new C-111 would come equipped with a rotary engine, five-cylinder diesel, or even a twin-turbo V8 — all of which were fitted to various iterations of the original car. Instead, one of the images posted by Wagener offers a clue, with the digital pixels spelling out H243, the chassis code for the EQA. So expect, perhaps unsurprisingly, an electric powertrain.
No additional details were supplied, not even a date for when we can expect a new C-111 to be revealed. Or maybe it’ll be something completely out of left field like the Avatar-movie based Pandora car.
