Car Lust--Mercedes-Benz C111
Sorry for the lack of Car Lusts yesterday and today, folks--I was out yesterday spending time with my daughter, and have spent this morning digging out here at work. Not a good excuse, I realize, so let's dispose with family and work and concentrate solely on what's really important--old cars.
Last week's Audi Avus (a car that, I'm surprised to say, was roundly panned here) was all show and no go--a car notable for its styling, but with vaporware under its curvaceous skin. Today's Car Lust wasn't so much a show car as a series of concept cars. The distinction between show car and concept car is a fine but important one.
The Mercedes-Benz C111 was not designed to wow crowds on a turntable in Tokyo or Frankfurt; it was a showcase for Mercedes' advanced aerodynamics and engineering. Even in its debut in 1969 as a stylized engineering buck, it was instantly one of the most impressive cars extant. As different versions of the C111 were developed throughout the 1970s, it evolved into a supercar and from there into a weird and wonderful low-slung, skirted piece of aerodynamic wizardry.
When I praise the engineering, my intention is not to damn the styling--I find the C111 series uniformly attractive, particularly the 1970 C111-II. It's a very pretty car, eschewing the stylized wedges that would be so favored in the 1970s (the first-generation Lotus Esprit, Triumph TR8, Fiat X1/9, Lancia Stratos, and Lamborghini Countach) for a more sophisticated, aerodynamic approach. Its combination of smooth, wind -cheating lines and chiseled features present a far more modern and efficient face to the wind, presaging the look of much later supercars like the Jaguar XJ220, Bugatti EB110, and Lamborghini Diablo.
Most futuristic cars look incredibly dated when the future actually arrives, but the 1970 C111-II still looks like a serious, credible supercar. It would not have been out of place in 1990--two decades after its debut.
Still, the C111 series was at its heart a deadly serious engineering and testing mule that presaged Mercedes' transformation in the 1980s and 1990s from a manufacturer of solidly built vehicles to an engineering tour de force. The early versions sported Wankel engines, revolutionary in their small size and light weight, in a preview of the industry's fascination with rotary engine technology later in the decade. Later versions included a production-based 5-cylinder turbodiesel (a configuration that would become popular in the following decade) and a twin-turbocharged V-8--many years before turbochargers became common on production cars.
Mid-engine design and gullwing doors, a staple of the less serious supercars to follow, also were present here. All C111s were ahead of their time aerodynamically, but the C111-III and C111-IV of the late 1970s broke truly new ground in vehicle aerodynamics. The C111-IV, in particular, used skirts, wings, and wind-cheating lines to achieve an unbelievably low .195 coefficient of drag. Even today, that figure is matched only by purpose-built prototypes. The best modern production cars manage the .27-.29 range.
The result was a variety of sustained speed records and a legacy of technical achievement to go along with the compelling combination of engineering innovation and slick styling.
Beyond all this, the C111 series is significant for its remarkable similarity to the sleek, smooth, skirted Sauber Mercedes prototypes that dominated the European Group C sports cars championship in the late 1980s. It was in those cars, incidentally, that a young German named Michael Schumacher first burst on the world motorsports stage.
By the way, with the Avus and Ariel Atom in the last week, I realize I've gone perhaps a bit too obscure recently. I'll try to return us to the realm of the dull and banal in the next few days.
These photos are all over the web, so I'm not sure to whom I should give credit; however, this French-language page offers up several original photos of each version of the C111 and as such can serve as an excellent spotter's guide. I haven't mastered captions yet here, so if you're curious which photos are of which versions, feel free to check that page out. If you read French, so much the better--you'll have spec sheets and original press releases to read through as well.
--Chris H.
Cookie the Dog's Owner on April 29, 2008 at 01:43 PM
In terms of looks, it's not that far from a DeTomaso Pantera. I like cars like that. I'm not much for flash, but if I were ever in the mood to be flashy, this is the kind of flashy I'd go for.
Mochi Mochi on April 29, 2008 at 03:05 PM
I followed the exploits of the C111 for years when I was a kid. It completely captured my attention and inspired me. From a styling perspective - well you can always compare it to something. From and engineering level - same thing. In terms of inspiration you could say that it represented a flag ship position like the Audi. So on each separate count you could find a comparator.
But the C111 is unique in that it was all of these things in one package and a lot more. It represented ground breaking styling for its times, it was an engineering masterpiece, it was an inspirational flag ship. But it didn't stop there - the C111 was a fully functional high performance rolling laboratory and test kitchen. And since it morphed time and again into increasingly diverse stylistic directions that HAD TO PERFORM, it was no slave to fashion.
The early C111 project ran concurrently with the space program and the race to the moon. In many ways it was seen in a similar way during its time. I think if you talked to Mercedes engineers on the project, they would have felt a kinship with the space program engineers. Certainly there were images showing up in the pages of Road&Track that hinted at an Apollo-esque look. This was a time when aerospace design and great engineering R&D efforts were heroic in their proportions.
The Avus was an interesting car and it had a lot going for it, but in the end it never had to DO anything. It was like a rendering or a styling exercise. Someone referenced Syd Mead. He does great imaginary vehicle renderings, and actually puts a lot of thought into their design. But it's all a sort of science fiction. I don't even want to write about these two cars in the same paragraph. It seems like a sacrilege of some sort.
Chris thanks for bringing the C111 back into focus. This is an amazing piece of work and a real inspiration. To gaze upon the C111 is to see the face of greatness.
Puncho on April 29, 2008 at 11:27 PM
These are beautiful. Nice post.
Jason Carpp on December 03, 2008 at 12:17 AM
I like the C111-I and II the best. It's too bad they were never meant for series production. They'd make an excellent SL series Mercedes-Benz. Sweet looking cars.