Mercedes-Benz C111
The
C111 was a series of experimental
automobiles produced by
Mercedes-Benz in the
1960s and
1970s. The company was experimenting with new engine technologies, including
Wankel engines,
Diesel engines, and
turbochargers, and used the basic C111 platform as a testbed. Other experimental features included
gullwing doors and a luxurious interior with leather trim and
air conditioning.
The first version of the C111 was completed in
1969. It used a
fiberglass body shell and had a three-rotor
fuel injected Wankel engine mounted
in the middle. The next C111 appeared in
1970. It used a four-rotor engine producing 370 hp (275 kW). The car could reportedly hit 180 mph (290 km/h).
The company decided not to adopt the Wankel engine and turned to Diesel experiments for the third C111. With its 230HP@ 4,400-4,600 5-speed manual
straight-5 turbo-Diesel, the C111 broke nine diesel and gas speed records. With more
aerodynamic bodywork that gave it an air drag coefficient of an incredible .191, the C111 eventually hit 200 mph (322 km/h) at
Nardo in
1978, and averaged 14.7mpg@ 195.4 mi (316 km) over a 12 hour cruise. A later 500 hp (372 kW) 4.8 L twin KKK-turbocharged
V8 version set another record, with an average lap-speed of 250.958mph. It was achieved by Dr. Hans Leibold in 1 minute, 56.67 seconds on May 5, 1979.
Mercedes-Benz introduced a C112 at the
Frankfurt Motor Show in
1991 as a production
supercar. It used a 6.0 L
V12 engine mounted in the middle. But after accepting 700 deposits, the company decided not to proceed with production.
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C111 III Picture gallery*
Some information (in french) and pictures of all C111 versions
