The Experimental Mercedes-Benz C 111

The Mercedes-Benz C 111-II was developed as an experimental car with a Wankel engine. But its official presentation at the Geneva motor show exactly 50 years ago amazed motorists. Many customers sent purchase requests, desperate to get such a model. But the C 111-II, like its predecessor, the C 111, never went on sale.

This was the new attraction of the industry. He was the new favorite. It was basically a laboratory on wheels, intended only for testing the Wankel engine invented by Felix Wankel. An engine in which the rotational movement is achieved not through the mechanism of a connecting rod-crank, but by means of a rotating piston of a triangular shape. The compact and low-vibration engine developed on the Mercedes-Benz C 111-II, 350 horsepower and accelerated the prototype to a maximum speed of 300 km / h.

The model shown in March 1970, 1120 millimetres high, was 4440 millimetres long, 1800 millimetres wide and had a wheelbase of 2620 millimetres. It had a plastic body reinforced with carbon fiber, and the body panels were connected to the chassis screws.