The pictured model is the Mercedes W100F and it is not a real car, it is a virtual project created by Mercedes-Benz to celebrate the late Formula 1 champion Juan Manuel Fangio. The design of this W100F is clearly inspired by the Silver Arrows of the 50s, more precisely the W196 model that the late Argentinian legend drove in 1954 and 1955 to clinch both Formula 1 World Championships.
The virtual model presented by Mercedes uses very rounded lines and presents a few ‘empty spaces’ in its design, generating a quite interesting and extreme aerodynamic shape that doesn’t really bother about the driver, as there’s just a diminutive windscreen offering shelter from the incoming air flow. There are a few cues taken from modern day Formula 1 as well, like the rear diffuser and the massive rear wing. Virtual prototypes can be considered as mere exercises in style, but we would not mind seeing it ‘in the metal” one day, possibly equipped with a twin turbo V8 engine, a 7-speed sequential gearbox and a push-rod suspension with independent bracing structures. Why not?
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