Research is a motor of progress. This is the principle that motivated Carl Benz to design his famous Patent Motor Car back in 1886.

He calculated, tinkered, discarded ideas – and finally went on to build a vehicle that apart from the wheels had little in common with previous ones. Everything else was original, different – a stroke of genius. This was the first automobile.

Daimler AG is not only the world’s oldest car manufacturer but also holds the technological leadership. It has always been clear that research and innovation are the basis of success. The Mercedes-Benz brand heeds this principle. Engineering under the three-pointed star is always ahead of its time, setting the standards on a global scale. This applies particularly to the company’s research cars: what the designers and engineers realize in these fully operational cars extends far into the future – but many a feature will soon find itself in a production car sporting the star.

Daimler research cars are fully operational because they are supposed to make new technology experienceable, drivable, and assessable. They then fulfil their purpose, which is to provide insights into the automobile of tomorrow. Each of these special cars follows the concept of holism. It is not single components which are being tested; rather the entire vehicle springs from an original idea. That this calls some conventions into question, that unusual solutions may cause astonishment or enthusiasm, is all part of the visionary brainwork for the automobile of the future.

As a result, the sometimes very unusual concepts stimulate public discussion of tomorrow’s mobility and provide important indications to the market researchers at Daimler AG as to what customers want and need. For the cars are oriented to customers, and research must be oriented to the future. Designers, engineers and marketing experts jointly draw up the technical specifications for a new research car. Each car is a reflection of a clear strategy – sometimes it stresses the technological competence of the company, sometimes ergonomics, sometimes driving safety. The designers and engineers then have their work cut out for them complying with all the specifications that result from the visionary ideas.

It requires thinking up something entirely new and unusual. The original ideas are constantly reviewed for feasibility, with information technology and its simulation tools being a great help. If it works on the screen, the approval for made-to-measure manufacture is given. Practically every part of a research car is manufactured to order, a costly procedure: electronic systems are drafted, the interior compartment is redesigned and set up, the bodywork formed. It is not simply a question of setting up a technical product. Every vehicle feature reflects great attention to detail and the striving for the highest possible quality of workmanship. It takes some two years before a research car is ready to drive.

Daimler AG has devoted itself to this path of innovation and over the years has presented research vehicles to the public at almost regular intervals. These reflect a recent chapter in the more than 120-year history of the company – and a very exciting one indeed, because a look at the past and current research vehicles is both retrospective and preview of the future of the automobile.

Mercedes-Benz has always been testing new automotive concepts on fully operational vehicles. This has been done even more systematically from 1969. In the C 111, the Wankel or rotary-piston engine was tested initially, later to be followed by other drive systems. This car was thus one of the forerunners of the research cars. The latter’s history began in 1978 with the “Auto 2000” with which Mercedes-Benz engaged in in-depth basic research for new automobiles. It was followed by the NAFA in 1981. The more recent lineup began with the F 100 of 1991 – the “F” standing for the German word for research car. Since then, research cars all fitting the description “holistic” have been produced with almost infallible regularity: they serve not just to test single components but often demonstrate an entirely new vehicle concept in the form of a ready-to-drive automobile incorporating many forward-looking technologies.

In Mercedes-Benz research cars, new technologies can be experienced, tested and evaluated. With these cars, we are continuously further developing a combination that is characteristic of Mercedes-Benz – that of fascination and responsibility. And our researchers are already working on the next research car – because the future of the automobile begins today.