German Car Zone

Mercedes Classic visited the MB design studios and asked Peter Pfeiffer, the former design boss at Mercedes, what a retro-styled or facelifted SL from the past would look like today. Pfeiffer selected five of his most talented designers and gave them three weeks to come up with some designs. The designers were:

Uli Baur (Germany)
Winny Camacho (Philippines)
Mark Fetherston (England)
Volker Leutz (Germany)
Gabriel Nemeth (Hungary)


My favorite one is Volker Leutz's vision of what a W113 "Pagoda" SL would look like today. Damn this thing is hot.


Below are the other designs (see scans). Worth checking out.


THE SCANS

That's some very nice stuff you've found there Wimmer. MB fans rejoice! Thankfully the SLR successor the Gullwing will be quite retro and mimic that W113 "Pagoda" using a long ass bonnet and a doopey rear.

Volker Leutz's impression is amazing. If Benz made that, i would be on the top of the order list, its hot!

Interesting. Thanks for posting Chris ...and Hassan.

You have some of the greatest posts, wimmer

Mercedes would be on top of the world again if they would style cars like this 'again'.

^ Hmm, while it's all very stylish and interesting, there is not much substance.

I want Mercedes to be pushing automobiles forward ...in tech and styling.

I am so tired of Retro ......I want car designs that represent technology and culture of our time -- not pastiche on car designs from half a century ago.

But the question is, do you find this design attractive?

^ Oh yes, it reminds me of the Bracq-era cars from Mercedes.

Retro can be very sexy ...but, for me, there is always something slightly superficial about it.

I strongly believe that outstanding product styling reflects the culture/ideas/science/technology/dreams of the time in which it is conceived -- Mercedes has always designed cars that reflect the zeitgeist of their era. Retro is purely commercial .....I want more from Merc-design than this, I want design that makes me think, that says something about our contemporary culture -- then again, maybe this longing for the past says more about our contemporary culture than I am giving it credit for.

Reminds of Ford's attempt at a modern retro of the Thunderbird.



I'm with Rob, enough of all this retro stuff. While it can be quite attractive (eg: Dodge Charger, Ford Mustang)..it lacks a sense of imagination or 'vision' in a company's design direction. Such a modern day retro vehicle would be an ultra-niche that would be completely out of place and a 5 minute wonder/publicity novelty.

Nonetheless, always fun to see these retro concepts/drawings as we've seen with the BMW M1 Hommage and Mille Miglia.

^ I would place the Mille Miglia in a slightly different category. The retro aspects are not at the heart of its conception -- they only serve as a vague reference point.