Auto Blitz: Mercedes Concept

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LA Auto Show Design Contest Part 2: Mercedes, Nissan, Smart, Toyota and Volvo Concepts

Here's our second part on the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show's "Design Challenge" with futuristic-looking lightweight concept models from Mercedes, Nissan, Smart, Toyota and Volvo. For the first group of concept studies, click here to check out our previous post.

For the past seven years, the most important automotive design studios in Southern California compete in a Design Challenge organized by the Los Angeles Auto Show. For this year's edition of the show, which runs November 19-29, the event planners decided to add an international flavor to the contest by inviting studios from Germany and Japan to join the competition for the very first time.

The theme for the 2010 Design Challenge is the creation of a super-efficient and lightweight four-passenger car: "The objective is to envision an efficient, light-weight, four passenger vehicle (not to exceed 1,000 lbs.), that is both comfortable and safe, while delivering satisfactory driving performance without sacrificing the styling consumers demand. "

Follow the break for the first group of concept models by Cadillac, Honda, Maybach and Mazda, and stay tuned for the second part.

After a two year absence from the Australian International Motor Show, Mercedes-Benz is returning to this year's edition of the event that takes place in Sydney from October 15th to 24th with a [supposedly] special C63 AMG. Called the Concept 358, the show car was co designed by Mercedes-Benz Australia and built by AMG.

Daimler subsidiary MBTech has presented a 1:1 scale model of its Reporter concept study at the 63rd IAA Commercial Vehicles Show in Hannover. The four-seater plug in hybrid pickup truck with the Smart Fortwo-esque fascia was designed in just six months using CAD and digital prototyping.

If anything else, we have to hand it to Mercedes-Benz for its rigorous promotional efforts to hype its new SLS AMG Gullwing supercar and all its derivatives, including the all-electric E-Cell prototype - and we mean that in a positive way.

Among the many guests at the SLS AMG E-Cell presentation in Norway was retired Formula One driver, David Coulthard, who was given the chance to test drive the electric-powered Gullwing model. The Scottish pilot tried out the SLS AMG E-Cell on an airstrip as well as on the road. View the video [in high-definition] after the break.

Here are two new videos of the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG E-Cell, both shot in Norway, where the German firm presented the prototype model to the press. In the first clip you can see the all-electric 'Gullwing' E-Cell along with the new S63 AMG, which packs a new, twin-turbo, 5.5-liter V8, running up and down an airstrip at Kristiansund, while the second video shows the SLS AMG E-Cell on the 'Atlantic Road' on the west coast of Norway.

Approximately a year ago, Mercedes-Benz officially revealed plans to develop a fully-electric version of its SLS AMG supercar. Now, the German automaker has unveiled a prototype model of the car named "SLS AMG E-Cell".

On the E-Cell prototype, Stuttgart's engineers replaced the standard SLS AMG's 571HP 6.3-liter V8 petrol engine with four electric motors placed near the wheels effectively making it a four-wheel drive model. Mercedes notes that this solution substantially reduces the unsprung masses compared to wheel-hub motors.

The electric motors produce a combined output of 392kW or the equivalent of 526HP and a maximum torque of 880 Nm / 649 lb-ft, the latter available right from the start. One transmission per axle transmits the power.

Remember the Saudi Arabian SUV concept called the 'Gazal 1' from this year's edition of the Geneva Motor Show in March? Well, it's officially going into production. The announcement was made by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah himself during a special ceremony earlier this week.

The original Gazal 1 concept study was created by the students of Saud University in Riyadh with some help from Magna Steyr and Studiotorino. Despite the deign similarities with Toyota's FJ Cruiser, the Gazal 1 is actually based on the underpinnings of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class and is powered by a V8 engine.

The answer to the question we posed in the title comes to us in the form of five different conceptual studies, all made by Russian designer Vladimir G. The drawings show proposals for various kind of boats inspired in design by Ferrari, Porsche, Maserati and Bugatti models as well from Mercedes-Benz's SLS AMG Gullwing supercar. Hit the jump to see the complete gallery.

Now that their limited production Maybach 57S Coupe (see here) has made the rounds, here are some of the other proposals from Xenatec. Since the company's specialty is chassis modification (and the necessary body work thereafter), they've got some ideas for a lengthened (and shortened) "dream cars".

Have a look at the gallery below and see what tickles your fancy. The SUV limos are a bit much, but the rag-top conversions don't look too bad (especially the CLS and 300).

The Mercedes Hexawheel concept asks an interesting question: what if Mercedes (or Smart) tackled mini-off-roading?

Thought up by Siyamak Rouhi Dehkordi, a 35-year-old Mechanical Engineer from Iran, it features an insect-inspired all-wheel-drive platform integrating hydraulic pistons into the frame to help control the car's two halves.

A diesel engine would put power through a "flexible hydraulic power transmission system" to all six wheels.

Latest in a line of design tangents starting with the CLS, Mercedes will be debuting its Shooting BreakConcept. This is meant to be a closer, more production-ready preview to the next CLS than the FASCINATION. It also rolls on 20's.

First off, the engine is a 3.5 liter V6 previewing the next generation of V-engines from Mercedes that develops 306 horsepower (225 kW) and 273 lb-ft (370 Nm). And that's the least interesting part about the car.

Design-wise, it inherits the SLS's "soft nose" with world-premier dynamic full-LED headlamps, "which for the first time offer all of the regular dynamic light functions using LED technology."

Found on web-zine Yanko Design was this mad doggy: the insane (-ly awesome) C.S.V. It stands for Cyborg Sensation Vehicle. Yes, really. Designed by Derek Chik Kin Ng, it'll be hitting dealerships in 2040 and targets "young adventurous professionals".

Inspiration came from Mercedes's F400 concept, which is also viewable in the gallery below. It foreshadows a fully integrated driver/vehicle interface, providing "driving...by thinking".

This right here is the Gazal-1. It's based on the Mercedes-Benz G-Class and was built by engineering students at King Saud University. Here's where I'd usually bore you with the project's mission as read in a press release, but let's keep this one simple.

The Gazal is named after gazelles (I see it!), apparently a creature commonly found living in Saudi Arabia. It kind of looks like a G-Class at an FJ Cruiser. Can't you just see this thing bounding over dunes and through malls?

The latest in Mercedes' F X00 research series is called the Style. Can you guess what they're concentrating on? Clearly it looks good, and probably foreshadows where the next CLS is going (or possibly the rumored C-baby CLS).Here's what it is: the F800 Style is a CLS-like hybrid concept that Mercedes claims can hit 100km/h in 4.8 seconds and reach a top speed of 250 km/h (155mph). Quick. As for efficient?

Just because it's meant to foreshadow future design themes, that doesn't mean it's not green. After all, this is Geneva and we're all living in the 21st century.

That means its power train consists of a 272-horse V6 connected to a 109-horsepower electric motor powered by a lithium-ion battery that can be recharged at home (or at those recharging stations all these other plug-ins use). Much like other electric motors, output here has been limited; actual output is around 136 horsepower.

The first official photos of the Mercedes-Benz F800 Style 'four-door coupe' study surfaced online today ahead of the concept model's official world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show on March 2.

The new concept model serves two purposes: first, it samples Mercedes-Benz's new and more dynamic design language that will be first applied on the next-generation CLS sports saloon, which is expected later this year, and second, it is believed to preview a smaller brother to the CLS.

If Mercedes-Benz goes ahead and produces the CLC, the four-door saloon with the coupe-like roofline and aggressive stance will most probably slot between the C-Class and E-Class models in terms of size and pricing.

As much as we'd all like, it's extremely hard from a financial and time point of view for most of us to travel around the world visiting automobile museums like the one Mercedes-Benz has in Stuttgart, Germany. And until we find the resources (time is a problem easier solved...) to do so, a photo tour is probably the next best option we have.

Designed by the UNStudio of Dutch architects van Berkel and Bos, Amsterdam, the museum building's interior styling is inspired by the double helix structure of the DNA spiral that carries the human genome.

Located directly outside the factory gates at Mercedes-Benz's parent plant in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim, the automaker's museum presents 160 vehicles and over 1,500 exhibits spanning from the 19th century to today on nine different levels and covering a floor space of 16,500 square meters.