The Benz of the Future, as Mercedes Saw It in 1981

Back in 1981, only a handful of visionaries could’ve predicted the future of the automobile industry, and some of those people apparently worked for Mercedes Benz. Shocker, I know.

In 1980, Germany, along with most of Europe, had a big black cloud over their heads, as they wondered how to run a strong manufacturing country in an efficient and sustainable manner. The answer came later that year when Germany’s Federal Ministry for Research and Technology approached Mercedes-Benz and asked them to build a couple of prototype cars for the sake of environmental research. The goal was to achieve 25 miles per gallon on vehicles weighing up to 1,700 kilograms (3,700 lbs.) and 21.3 mpg for cars weighting up to 2,150 kilograms (4,739 lbs.). At the time, these were very ambitious goals.

The catch? These prototypes had to be fully functional, sit four adults, carry stuff, and meet government safety and emission standards. Mercedes-Benz got to work and came up with these bad boys from the future, code-named Auto 2000.

There were a total of three cars produced. One of them featured a 3.8-liter V8 engine with computerized cylinder deactivation, which was pretty radical for that time. Another was a 3.3-liter twin-turbo diesel six-cylinder motor, which achieved an impressive 31.3 mpg on the highway. The last prototype featured a much more far-fetched approach: a gas turbine engine. Not much information turned up regarding this last one.

All prototypes featured very early versions of digital gauges and displays, radios, and even a pre-historic form of GPS navigation. Personally, I love the boxy and utterly-German styling of these one-of-a-kind machines.

If only they could’ve imagined some of the technology we have now.

Chime in with your thoughts on the forum. >>

Via [Jalopnik]