Mercedes-Benz has a new concept show car, inspired by the elegant 1930s luxury coupes and roadsters with their flowing lines, on display the Shanghai Fashion Week which runs until Thursday.
The Vision Iconic car is a tasteful blend of old and new, with the donor car clearly the silhouette of an AMG GT. The latest automotive haute couture fusion of vintage and contemporary doesn’t end there. The iconic, chrome Mercedes-Benz grille features contour lighting, while the iconic three-pointed star on the bonnet is also illuminated.
The end product is a sizeable, 2+2 luxury GT that invokes the menacing images of the one-of-a-kind 1930s Mercedes-Benz SSK Trossi — built for the Italian race car driver Count Carlo Felice Trossi — and the Maybach Zeppelin DS-8 of the same vintage.
The ebony paint isn’t just for enhancing the look of a Dark Lord GT, though. Mercedes-Benz says it’s a research project for solar modules as photovoltaic-active surfaces. When applied to the entire vehicle surface, additional driving range could be harnessed from the sun.
Polished brass door handles in silver-gold tones open to reveal an Art Deco-style lounge interior fusing hyper-analogue and digital luxury. The centre piece is a floating glass structure, called “Zeppelin” and inspired by the legendary 300SL. The instrument cluster comes to life with a cinematic, analogue animation through the pillar-to-pillar screen concept.
One of the four clocks on the dash is shaped like the brand logo, acting as an AI companion. The driver and passenger sit on a front bench upholstered in deep blue velvet behind a four spoke steering wheel with the Mercedes‑Benz logo floating inside a glass sphere in the middle. Elaborate straw marquetry, a luxurious decorative technique dating back to the 17th century clads the floor.
Other tech the company says it’s researching includes neuromorphic computing, which mimics the brain for better autonomous driving ability, and steer-by-wire.
The show car is presented alongside a capsule collection consisting of six outfits for men and women for the fashion show, and an Iconic Design book inspired by the brand’s heritage and featuring interviews with Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kaellenius and chief design office Gorden Wagener.
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