1979: The Future Takes Form at Damiler-Benz
Sizing up the future of private transportation was the main theme of a project Daimler-Benz undertook with the West German government. The project was to design a vehicle that provided adequate passenger space, comfort and performance without compromising conversation of energy and raw materials, safety, environmental protection or operating cost.
The wedge-shaped sedan gave you an idea of the direction Mercedes was thinking. The basic wedge form was significant from an aerodynamic standpoint, but the real key to the success of this vehicle lied in its powerplant. The first choice was a gas turbine, developing in the vicinity of 145-150 horsepower, which could run on a variety of fuels and deliver 24-28 MPG. A viable alternative was an alloy V8 diesel with a turbocharger, providing that antipollution laws didnt regulate the diesel out of the picture.
Electronics would handle starting, idling, braking and steering in addition to such futuristic standards as tailgate warning and computerized traffic advisory system (imagine that!) Daimler insisted this was all part of a four-year project that would come to completion before a prototype was built.
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