If you ever wondered what happens when Mercedes-Benz decides to go completely mad, in a good way, meet the C111. No, it wasn’t a production car. No, you could’t buy one. And yes, people actually sent blank cheques to Stuttgart begging for it. That’s how bonkers this thing was. But it wasn’t just one car, Mercedes-Benz used the C111 for several different versions.

Imagine a car that looks like it was designed by a sci-fi illustrator on espresso. The C111 cars all had gullwing doors, a fiberglass wedge-shaped body, and a paint job called Weissherbst metallic orange.

These photos were taken in 2019 when Mercedes-Benz made a big impact during the 2019 Techno Classica show in Essen, Germany. They brought 5 of these so-called C111 cars to the show. The Techno Classica show is the largest classic car show in Europe and exhibitors include car manufacturers, dealers, restoration companies and private collectors. One of the big changes, and something that has been going on for a few years now, is diminishing support from the big three German car manufacturers. So you won’t see these kind of exhibitions anytime soon at a car show.

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