When Mercedes Benz has a new model due for production, it likes to take the basis of that model and mix it up with some other styles to preview the new car. This happens here with the Shooting Brake concept – under the partial disguise this will form the basis of the replacement for the Mercedes CLS.
The Shooting Brake is as its classical English designation suggests a coupe with an stationwagon-like roof line, but will likely lose this in production format and revert to a 4 door coupe as the last generation CLS was.
There are hints of the new SLS sports car in the front grille that will be carried over into the next CLS, but it remains to be seen if the boat tail treatment above the rear wheels will also make it onto the production car – time will tell…
Mercedes Shooting Brake Concept Front
Mercedes Shooting Brake Concept Side
Mercedes Shooting Brake Concept Rear
Mercedes Shooting Brake Concept Interior
The F800 Style Concept Car from Mercedes Benz was designed to highlight future Mercedes technology and also give hints as to forthcoming new models such as a replacement for the Ageing Sport-Coupe that sits below the C-class sedan in the range. The F800 is a look at what a possible Compact Coupe from Mercedes Benz could look like, either in a 2 door or possible 4 door format.
The concept car itself features a minivan style sliding rear door for easy access, but this would unlikely make production. It has what Mercedes describes as a multi drive platform meaning it can accommodate electric motors along side either a range extender hybrid combustion engine, a fuel cell, or a larger amount of batteries, whichever format the customer chooses.
Mercedes F800 Style Concept Front
Mercedes F800 Style Concept Side
Mercedes F800 Style Concept Rear
Mercedes F800 Style Concept interior
Mercedes showed of a glimpse of future low emissions models with the new BlueZero concept car, shown at the 2009 Detroit auto show.
The concept car showed in 3 different configurations of engine – the E-Cell, which was battery powered electric drive with a range of up to 200 kilometers, the F-cell which used a Hydrogen fuel Cell to power the same electric motors rather than batteries and had a range of up to 400 km, and the e-Cell plus, which used the same set up as the E-cell but also used a petrol engine as a generator to allow for extended journeys with a range of up to 600 km, with 100km alone on battery power only.
All 3 cars used the unique layout of the Mercedes B-Class hatchback as a starting point as it has a dual layer sandwich floor that allows the batteries & fuel cell to be stored within the chassis at a very low centre of gravity without affecting the cabin space.
Mercedes BlueZero Concept Front
Mercedes BlueZero Concept Side
Mercedes BlueZero Concept Rear
Mercedes BlueZero Concept Interior
Mercedes Benz showed off its new Fascination concept car at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. It was a fastback or shooting brake styled coupe with the roofline staying high like an estate giving very generous space in the back of the car.
In reality the Fascination concept previewed the forthcoming new e-class range, having the identical front end to the production cars, and rear styling close to that of the estate, and in being a coupe itself also hinted that Mercedes would release a new E-class coupe too, which they inevitably did.
The concept car used a 2.2 litre 4 cylinder diesel engine with twin turbochargers to push power to 204 horsepower whilst keeping very low emissions.
Mercedes Benz Fascination Concept Front
Mercedes Benz Fascination Concept Side
Mercedes Benz Fascination Concept Rear
Mercedes Benz Fascination Concept Interior
The Ocean Drive concept car was shown at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, to revive the trend for larger convertibles, as it was almost the size of a Mercedes S-Class and was a four door convertible, which can be incredibly tricky to engineer for production as having two doors each side with no roof robs the chassis of its rigidity.
The concept was based on the Mercedes S 600, and featured its 12 cylinder engine and yet itself was a preview to the forthcoming E-Class convertible, which later replaced the CLK. The Ocean Drive was never destined for production, but used to convey future styling themes with Mercedes customers and gauge their reactions.
Mercedes Benz Ocean Drive Concept Front
Mercedes Benz Ocean Drive Concept Side
Mercedes Benz Ocean Drive Concept Rear
Mercedes defined the F700 concept as a “Research Car”as it used an experimental “diesotto” engine that combined the high power of the spark-ignition engine with the torque and great fuel economy of a diesel. The engine was able to produce the power of the equivalent 3.5 litre V6 petrol engine, despite only having a capacity of 1.8 litres.
The styling was a combination of the S-class, along with the overall S-class dimensions, but with the swooping curves of body and roofline seen on the earlier CLS production car.
Mercedes Benz F700 Concept Front
Mercedes Benz F700 Concept Side