Bringing an iconic automobile from more than half a century ago into the future – how do you do just that? Young visionary industrial engineer Matthias Bottcher has just found a way out of that dilemma. He took inspiration in the legendary 300 SL Gullwing of the 50s to build a UFO-like Mercedes-Benz concept.
This is the Mercedes-Benz SLPURE Concept. The German designer’s contraption ditched the elegant lines of the 300 SL for a more aerodynamic look, typical to a performance car. The inverted wheels look like jet engines and the doors have the exact shape of a seagull’s spread wings, when opened.
The SLPURE Concept, that looks hostile as hell for those left on the outside, is probably not roadworthy, because, as seen in the pictures, it lack the side windows and a real windscreen. Yet, just like in the case of the F015 Luxury in Motion, those might be hints that the vehicle is fully autonomous and is all wrapped up in cameras and sensors, with display panels on the inside, to guarantee the safety of the occupants who do anything else but drive on their way to the destination. Worried about claustrophobic panic attacks? Those might be rescinded by the transparent rooftop that goes all the way to the tailgate.
And speaking of which, should the rear side of this fluid sculpture seem familiar, that is because you might have been staring a bit too much at the rear side of the Aston Martin DB10. So have we.
The concept was not conceived by the experts of some highly-equipped studio in Stuttgart. With its futuristically visionary design, the car was nothing but a bachelor’s thesis at the design university he is attending.
