Fascinating sports activities vehicle icon and media favourite, laboratory on wheels for the improvement of the Wankel engine and trying out new technology and, last, however now no longer least, mythical record-breaking vehicle: the Mercedes-Benz C 111 is all this and lots greater. Its 2nd improvement stage, C 111-II, proposing the quadruple-rotor variation (4 instances 602 ccm float chamber volume) of the M 950 F rotary piston engine producing 257 kW (350 hp) can be celebrating its fiftieth anniversary in 2020.
Premiere
The supersports vehicle turned into delivered on the fortieth Geneva Motor Show among 12 and 22 March 1970. The new, simply 1120-millimetre-excessive automobile with gullwing doorways and a wheelbase of 2620 millimetres functions a glass-fibre bolstered plastic (GFRP) frame screwed to the sheet metal underbody frame. Its pinnacle velocity is three hundred km/h. It stays a primary public appeal to this day: revel in a Mercedes-Benz C 111-II proposing the feature "Weissherbst" paintwork on the Fascination of Technology exhibition segment of the Mercedes-Benz Museum.
Improved improvement
Dream vehicle
The C 111 is a spotlight from the outset. Consequently, the plan set out through the Board of Management of what turned into then Daimler-Benz AG labored out well: its participants determined on 20 May 1969 that, as a dream vehicle, the C 111 might be showcased to the general public among eleven and 21 September 1969 on the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt am Main. Following its sensational debut, the C 111 attended severa different change festivals and exhibitions: the Paris Motor Show, London Motor Show (October 1969), Turin Auto Show (October/November 1969), Jochen Rindt Show in Vienna (November 1969) and Essen (December 1969), Brussels International Motor Show (January 1970) and Chicago Auto Show (February 1970). The advanced model C 111-II then premiered in Geneva in March 1970.
Blank cheques
Wealthy sports activities vehicle aficionados are organized to pay good sized quantities for a C 111. For instance, in London in 1969 an automobile fanatic already provided to pay as much as 1/2 of 1,000,000 German marks. Blank cheques had been even added to Stuttgart over the subsequent months. However, the emblem made clean that this experimental automobile turned into now no longer for sale. Right at the start of its career, what might later be referred to as the C 111 (with the inner Mercedes-Benz designation C 101) turned into supposed for a completely one of a kind goal group: as early as 1963 preliminary notion were given to a Wankel engine in a "small, low priced sports activities vehicle" to be placed under the "Pagoda" SL (W 113). The method turned into described in greater element in 1968 as a "small, sporty automobile" with none unique consolation functions this is additionally appropriate for rally sports activities and aimed at "younger people".
Driving revel in
In Geneva traffic had been now no longer most effective marvelling on the C 111-II as an exhibition spotlight, in addition they witnessed it in movement as Mercedes-Benz delivered of a complete of 5 deliberate experimental motors from the second one collection to the Motor Show. The prototype with inner range 31 and for that reason the primary C 111-II may be skilled as a part of the click demonstration on 10 and eleven March 1970 at Circuit de Monthoux close to Geneva in demonstration check drives.
Digital
The C 111 had now no longer most effective been designed with a futuristic shape. It is likewise the world's first automobile that were absolutely designed on a computer. For this purpose, engineers used the ESEM method (elastostatic detail method), a finite detail method (FEM) variation evolved at Mercedes-Benz. The virtual era even made it viable to calculate dynamic loads. Mercedes-Benz estimates that the improvement length turned into reduce through round 4 months through the usage of this method. The in-residence documentary movie production "Das Auto, das aus dem Computer kam" (the auto from the computer) delivered the innovation.
V8 rather than Wankel engine
December 1970 noticed the set up of a Mercedes-Benz 3.5-litre V8 reciprocating engine withinside the C 111-II rather than the Wankel engine. This Mercedes-Benz Classic automobile manner the C 111 can nevertheless be dynamically skilled to this day, because it nevertheless draws interest at activities for automobile classics. A C 111-II relationship returned to 1975 represents a in addition particular automobile forming a part of the company-owned automobile collection: its ground meeting includes a sandwich layout with glass-fibre-bolstered artificial resin shells with a thickness of only some millimetres that shape a center shape on the premise of polyurethane foam.
Butter and skis
Compared with its predecessor the C 111-II boasted some of handy details. This turned into mainly essential to Rudolf Uhlenhaut, head of the Mercedes-Benz Passenger Vehicle Development department. In addition to the ordinary boot, the automobile supplied area to deal with one object of baggage at the boot lid, secured through straps, in addition to the choice to move skis. Uhlenhaut additionally placed the C 111-II via a practically-orientated "butter check": on this process, the automobile is pushed fast whilst looking to set up whether or not a percent of butter positioned withinside the boot melts because of the combustion engine's dissipated warmth notwithstanding the boot's insulation.
Showing its colours
Nowadays the C 111-II and its predecessor have fashioned a public picture as motors related to the orange metallic "Weissherbst" paintwork. However, on the give up of the 1960s, notion turned into first of all given to "Vermillion" paintwork and rally stripe patterns. In 1969 the C 111 first of all premiered with a white special-impact paint and brilliant orange highlights. Yet, through the debut of the C 111-II in Geneva in 1970, the "Weissherbst" paintwork had gained out because the feature colour.
Record-breaking automobile
