Question: What looks like the love child between the AMX/3 and the Maserati Bora, has come with diesel engines, V8s and Wankel rotaries, and has gullwing doors? Nope, not a Bricklin SV-1. Shame on you. The correct answer is the Mercedes-Benz C111 concept car series. Yes, series. First appearing in late 1969, the four major variations of C111 were rolling testbeds for Mercedes-Benz, and you’d only know that if you looked for the pointed-star symbol or saw the gullwing doors. Everything about the C111’s look screams “1970s supercar”, from the sloped, semi-wedged nose to the rear engine/rear drive layout. They were sleek, very aerodynamic and when parked next to any of the 1970 Mercedes made for public consumption, you’d wonder if the engineers had simply slapped a badge onto a competitor’s car. They caused one hell of a stir when they appeared in the show circuit, and captured the imagination of one James Leno. Forty-something years later, Leno is getting his shot behind the wheel of one of the factory concept to cruise around in, in this case the C111-II. It’s an honest concept in every form of the word…factory owned, never sold to the public, test mule, all of that…but how does it fare bombing around Southern California roads? Click play below to find out:
Why Mercedes never put this into production I’ll never know – it could have run the 5 litre V8 and been an instant hit. To hide such a car in their experimental department was an act of pure selfishness – they could even dust off this design and stick an AMG badge on it today!
Shame on you, Mercedes Benz!
I had no idea this little critter even existed.
Had the Hot Wheels version when I was a kid.