The silhouette of the prototype echoes the design of the Mercedes 35 PS from 1901, the first car of the brand, created in Stuttgart by Wilhelm Maybach and Paul Daimler.
One of the earliest gasoline cars, the 118-year-old Mercedes 35 PS, got its own name in honor of the customer's daughter — Mercedes. The numerical index and abbreviation in the name indicated the power — 35 horsepower. At the time, the Mercedes 35 PS was called the "first modern car," since the self-propelled carriage by Maybach and Daimler embodied the advanced technologies of the early 20th century.
The Vision Mercedes Simplex prototype draws historical parallels — the concept car has similar contours, exposed wheels, a belt-secured engine cover, minimalism in the cockpit, and a driving position traditional for racing cars of a century ago. The filling of the Vision Mercedes Simplex is emphatically futuristic: the traditional radiator grille is replaced by a three-dimensional display with a rose gold frame, and under the hood there is a powertrain based on alternative energy sources.
The creators of the unusual concept sought to reflect in one product "the heritage and future of the luxury brand Mercedes-Benz." The first public showing of the Vision Mercedes Simplex will take place at the Design Essentials 2019 exhibition in Nice, France.
