Days of Future Past: Mercedes EQ Silver Arrow Concept Aims to Amaze
Looks like: A very modernized take on the old single-seat open-top racecars of the 1930s
Defining characteristics: Only 1 meter tall; paint meant to look like metal sheeting; 738-horsepower electric drivetrain
Ridiculous features: Carbon-fiber body; partially free-standing wheels with non-rotating hubcaps and 168 spokes; 3-D panoramic display of surroundings
Chance of being mass-produced: Zip, zero, zilch, none, nada.
Monterey Car Week is a celebration of classic vehicles, but automakers have been using it more and more as a showcase for their latest creations, and the next vehicle from the imagination of Mercedes-Benz designers meshes those two themes perfectly. The EQ Silver Arrow Concept fuses modern (and future) technology with a tribute to the German automaker’s 1937 grand prix racing car, a “streamliner” version of which owned the speed record on public roads all the way up until 2017.
Related: To Inifiniti and Beyond! New Concept Portends Electrified Future
However, while that car had a V-12 engine, the EQ Silver Arrow has an electric drivetrain that produces 738 total horsepower. Power comes from a thin 80-kilowatt-hour battery pack, and Mercedes says the concept has a range of over 250 miles.
The single-seat cockpit is equipped with a panoramic display behind the steering wheel, which shows a 3-D image of the car’s surroundings. In the future, when inductive charging could be built into highways, the charging line is highlighted to help the driver. But what’s even more interesting (and probably distracting) is that, according to the automaker, you can race against “ghost” versions of Mercedes racing cars, with a virtual racetrack superimposed on the real roadway – which is to say that you can get your “Gran Turismo” on in real life. A “virtual race coach,” meanwhile, will help keep the car on the track… er, I mean, road.
The most striking feature of the EQ Silver Arrow is its exterior, which has a body structure made of carbon fiber and an Alubeam Silver paint job that’s meant to look like liquid metal (wait… mimetic polyalloy?), much like racecars of old. The concept is more than 17 feet long but only about 3 feet tall, making it long and lean, with carbon-fiber aerodynamic parts highlighting the front and rear. Your eyes will also be drawn to the partially freestanding wheels with non-rotating hubcaps that are surrounded by 168 spokes, each painted in rose gold.
The EQ Silver Arrow will make its world debut at Monterey Car Week on Friday.
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