Just came across these images. Does anyone know anything about this? I am assuming it is a concept, but the context in which I found it, it came across as though it sounds for real.
where’d you find this? To me, it looks really old, like maybe 6 or more years ago. The styling cues are last gen S class, and the buttons and UI look very out of date… actually they kinda look like Dodge/Chrysler buttons so maybe from that Dailmer-Benz era…not the first “no steering wheel” concept to be sure, but I doubt this is happening anytime soon (and if so, hopefully doesn’t look like this dogs breakfast of buttons).
R
It’s at least 6 years if not 10 years old. I remember seeing it in Motor Trend and seeing the joystick drive.
It’s the 2028 CL concept
Judging by the left hand grip in the door recess (throttle/brakes ? ) it looks like they took their cues from the Donnier 335 Pfeil cockpit.
It does have a 90-92 Sl look to the it.
Yep, that is an old concept, I remember seeing it at the auto show in the late 90’s… maybe '97 or '98
Ha!
I received these images in an email from my mom. One of these chain mail type emails that gets sent around. It was asking something like: “Are you young enough to drive this car?”…“Probably not, but your six year old could”…blah blah blah.
It read kind of like a viral advertisement that was sent out to the older generation hoping to encourage them to send it to their kids, etc.
weird one
It should have been “Are you old enough to remember this concept from 10 years ago?”
That said, I saw the new E-Class commercial this morning. The car wakes you up if it senses you are falling asleep, it corrects your steering if it senses you are drifting on the highway, and it auto stops if it senses an object ahead… that stuff kind of scares me! A lot of crap to potentially go wrong… how about if an audible alert came on and just said “Hey d-bag, put the latte down, take out the blue tooth headset, and focus on driving your car, your 4 year old in the back seat is scared sh!tless and so is the guy in the car next to you.”
M-B realizes that most Americans do not take driving as seriously as they do. It isn’t surprising then that they are, with typical Teutonic ingenuity, attempting to save us from ourselves with engineering. But as you say
A lot of crap to potentially go wrong…
Like, for example, the fore /aft seat controls on our CLK that operate in “opposite” mode; the automatic feature that “aims” the passenger-side mirror down when the car is put in reverse (so you can see the gutter), but now refuses to re-aim itself to the “driving” position; the climate control switch that “doesn’t”; or the electronic circuit that, for whatever reason, allows the battery to drain if parked for more than a week if the doors are not locked* ? Thankfully these thing don’t assume actual control of the vehicle’s path on the road.
- My wife went to drive the car to work after we got home from a two week visit back home, only to find that the battery was dead; first clue that something was amiss was that the remote key would not open the door. It’s a “conservation” feature built into the system … unannounced in the Owner’s Manual.
This futuristic car is never been my type. I can’t imagine myself driving a car using joystick since it has no steering wheel and pedal. Its technical innovations in its Benz parts such as using joystick instead of steering wheel, and a video monitor instead of a rear mirror are difficult to classify as true or false.
Since this concept is about 15 years old, it is now the future. Go to your garage and undoubtedly you will see your car is joystick driven…
Yo: On the other hand, the gauges are all LCD panels in this concept and that is slowly becoming reality. Certainly, the navigation part is solidly here today.
Another thing that I see is a rear facing back up camera. Today it is most widely integrated into the screen for the GPS, here is replacing the rear-view mirror. Still, pretty accurate.
I think the part that actually seems the most archaic is the buttons and knobs. No touch screen or iDrive knob?
Another funny part is the exterior. It looks like a Chevy Cavalier that someone dumped $30k into. “Check those doors yo!”
It was called the Mercedes-Benz F 200. 