Mercedes Sl 500 Convertable Comfort Pkg Only 29k Panoramic Roof on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Project Maybach is an absurd, awesome off-road electric coupe

Mercedes has created some mighty unusual concepts for the Maybach luxury brand. The Exelero high-speed test car and the Ultimate Luxury SUV sedan come to mind. But the Project Maybach, designed in collaboration with late fashion designer Virgil Abloh, may be the wildest yet, being an electric off-road coupe. It's not just the fact it's a two-door off-road coupe. It's the fact that it's a nearly 20-foot-long two-door off-road coupe. And it has very traditional proportions and lines, with a gargantuan front end, and a somewhat less gargantuan rear end. It's squared-off, but in a more elegant, midcentury luxury car way than say, a Hummer. And of course, it has a huge chrome grille and highly embellished taillights, complete with Maybach logos. And yet, this old-school coupe sits high off the ground. It rolls on small, steel-style wheels with chunky tires. It even has skid plates, bolt-on fender flares, rock rails and a roll cage with a roof basket. It's all painted in a matte tan paint that makes it look like a desert-ready expedition vehicle. It's even arguably practical for expedition work. The somewhat spartan-looking interior has tan leather seats that recline fully flat for sleeping. Being an electric car with long areas unoccupied by people, plus that roof basket, it likely has loads of cargo space. On the hood are solar panels that might provide a bit of range, but would at least be handy for recouping some power for accessories. The interior seems to have additional storage bins and tools stowed in special compartments around the cabin. As for the actual performance and range, well, Mercedes has nothing specific. That's not entirely surprising, since this seems to be solely a design exercise. As such, don't expect to see a production model anytime soon. Then again, off-road luxury vehicles are certainly popular. Maybe Mercedes would consider it if there were enough seriously wealthy customers expressing interest. Related video:

Daimler boss says fuel cell vehicles will be disappointing for at least 10 years

Daimler AG CEO Dieter Zetsche is pretty confident about the imminence of self-driving cars. Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles? Not so much. He didn't even get into the possibility of self-driving fuel-cell vehicles, but we're okay taking future technologies one at a time. Zetsche, in an interview from the Detroit Auto Show last week, said the automotive industry is about a decade away from avoiding disappointing experiences with production fuel-cell vehicles, In Auto News says. Zetsche was quick to note that the Mercedes-Benz parent entered into a fuel-cell partnership with Ford and Nissan early last year in an effort to split costs and speed things along, with the expectation that the group would develop something together by 2017, but even that won't be able to smooth things out fully. Toyota and Hyundai have said they'd have their own production vehicles on the road sooner than that. Multi-corporation-partnerships notwithstanding, Zetsche bemoaned the high costs, lack of vehicle volume and minimal refueling infrastructure as the proverbial roadblocks to more rapid development and adoption of fuel-cell vehicles. As it is, the US has just 10 publicly accessible hydrogen refueling stations, eight of which are in Southern California, according to the US Department of Energy. As for autonomous automobiles, Zetsche was more upbeat. Daimler already has what it calls the "Distronic" cruise control system that includes an automatic braking feature and has successfully driven a car 60 miles with "with relatively modest adjustments to the existing onboard technology." Featured Gallery Mercedes-Benz F-Cell View 9 Photos News Source: In Auto News Green Mercedes-Benz Hydrogen Cars

Mercedes-AMG GT pressed into service as DTM safety car

DTM is one of the most competitive, fast-paced touring car series in the world. So to set the pace, the marshals need a pretty fast car as well. And that's just what they got with the new Mercedes-AMG GT pictured here. Marking its debut at the Lausitzring speedway this weekend, the AMG GT S safety car is based closely on the road-going model, but like the version that's already in use in Formula One, it's been modified for safety-car duty. That means a low-profile light bar mounted to a carbon-fiber air scoop on the roof – both tested in a wind tunnel – as well as the front splitter and rear wing from the optional Aerodynamics package, and the optional upgraded rolling stock. Inside it's got racing buckets, six-point harnesses, a flat-bottom steering wheel, and special radio equipment. Otherwise it's essentially the same as the road-going model, right down to the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 and seven-speed dual clutch transmission. After all, with 510 horsepower on tap, it ought to be able to stay out ahead of the 490-hp touring cars currently competing in DTM. The new safety car replaces the C63 AMG Black Series coupe that Mercedes previously contributed to the effort, and will alternate with the vehicles furnished by rivals Audi and BMW from race to race. Related Video: Mercedes-AMG GT S: new Safety Car for the DTM: From Formula 1® to the DTM Affalterbach. A new Safety Car celebrates its DTM premiere: at the second DTM race at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz (29 to 31 May 2015), the Mercedes-AMG GT S is set to be deployed for the very first time. The new sports car will help to ensure maximum safety on the race track in the world's most popular touring car series. In technical terms, the 375 kW (510 hp) eight-cylinder sports car is for the most part the same as the series production vehicle – just like its counterpart from the FIA Formula 1 World Championship™, the Official Safety Car. In its road-going guise the Mercedes-AMG GT S has turned heads since its market launch in March 2015 and now the sports car is also taking to the DTM stage. The new season of the German Touring Car Masters (DTM) got under way during the first weekend of May in Hockenheim. The second DTM race taking place at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz at the end of May will see the Mercedes-AMG GT S make its first appearance as the official Safety Car.