1976 Mercedes Benz 450 Sl on 2040-cars

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Artist imagines eerie world where cars have no wheels

The wheel ranks right up there with the telescope and four-slice toaster in the pantheon of inventions that have moved humankind forward. But what if a circle in three dimensions had never occurred to anyone, and we all had just moved on without it? Perhaps we'd be driving around in Lucas Motors Landspeeders with anti-gravity engines. Or maybe we'd have the same cars we do today, just without wheels.
That's the thought experiment that seems to have led French photographer Renaud Marion to create his six-image series called Air Drive. The shots depict cars throughout many eras of motoring that look normal except for one thing: they have no wheels. The models used include a Jaguar XK120, Cadillac DeVille (shown above), Chevrolet El Camino and Camaro, and Mercedes-Benz SL and 300 roadsters.
Perhaps one day when our future becomes our past, you'll be able to walk the street and see with your own eyes the rust and patina of age on our nation's fleet of floating cars. Until then, Monsieur Marion's photographs will have to do.

Mercedes reveals F 015 Luxury in Motion concept at CES [w/videos]

Whatever you think of the idea, autonomous vehicles are emerging as the way of the future in the automotive industry, and Mercedes is showing its vision for that driverless destiny with the F 015 concept at CES this week. Billed as Luxury in Motion, the F 015 first popped onto our radar back in October when it was snapped under wraps and then again when the German automaker released the first teaser image previewing its silhouette, but has now taken center stage at the electronics expo in Las Vegas. So what is it exactly, you ask? Well, aside from being entirely autonomous – bringing together a suite of advanced technologies to take the driver out of the equation – it's also big. It's marginally larger than an S-Class, in fact, and with a more spacious one-box form that turns the cabin into a rolling living room. That's where you'll find four individual bucket seats that swivel towards each other, and pivot towards the giant doors for ease of ingress and egress. The doors open a full 90 degrees and the back ones swing suicide-style like on a Rolls-Royce, but without a B-pillar to get in the way. An array of six display screens turn the cabin – clad in wood, aluminum, glass and leather – into an all-enveloping "digital arena," with gesture-based controls, touch-sensitive screens and eye-tracking technology. Made of carbon fiber, aluminum and high-strength steel, the concept is some 40-percent lighter than a conventional automobile of its size. And while Mercedes isn't saying exactly what would provide the motivation (and to what effect), it does state that "the bodyshell of the F 015 Luxury in Motion was designed to allow the impact-protected integration of an electric drive system with fuel cell." The concept follows the debut of the Future Truck 2025 concept big-rig at the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hannover a few months ago, and is earmarked to make transportation through and between the world's growing cities a smoother, safer and less human-intensive ordeal. Whether that's the kind of future you want to live in is another matter, but you can scope it out in the videos and press release below and in the extensive gallery of images above for a closer look. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

2016 Mercedes C-Class Coupe offers S-Class style on a budget

This is the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe and it's the new best-looking vehicle in the small, luxury, sport coupe market. Bold praise, you say? Well, check out the live photos up top and let us know if you still disagree. As previously mentioned, the C-Class Coupe uses the same tactic as its four-door brother, aping the look of the flagship S-Class, but on a smaller, far more affordable scale. That means the same bold but sophisticated front fascia, slim, horizontally oriented taillights, and strong character line as the S-Class Coupe. It's a similar deal in the cabin, where Mercedes stuck with the aluminum and leather-heavy styling of the S-Class. It's a handsome cockpit for sure, complete with a meaty, flat-bottomed steering wheel and prominent display atop the dash. Although like its big brother, those backseats are there more for show than anything else, thanks to that plunging, fastback-like roofline. Expect the engine options on the C-Class Coupe to mirror those on the four-door sedan, with a base 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder, a twin-turbocharged V6, and eventually, a range-topping, fire-breathing C63 AMG. You can guess which one we're most eager to drive. Rear-wheel drive should be standard, although expect Mercedes' popular 4Matic all-wheel-drive system to be a popular option. Seven-speed automatic transmissions should be the order of the day, while the C63 will get some incarnation of the brand's AMG Speedshift line. As we suggested at the beginning of this story, you should check out our full gallery of photos direct from the floor of the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show.