Mercedes-Benz F 200 Imagination

I might be wrong.

That’s part of the fun, no? Nobody bats 100! If that’s the attitude of the world’s richest person* on paper** while conducting official government business, surely the opinions expressed in this newsletter are of little consequence.

I might be wrong, but maybe more luxurious, technology-filled, feature-laden vehicles with less outward style, personality, and usefulness are the way forward

It’s naïve to think otherwise, when the signals have been so clear for so long.

More stuff in our vehicles means more profit; surely, it must. Subcontractors, contractors, then final assembly of a lasagna of gooey, embedded electronic components throughout our machines and wireless modems for communicating back to its home server. Sensors, wires, touchscreens—progress.

Automakers, by nature, don’t go backwards. Who would? Low-cost construction techniques, cheery small displacement engines, and a “safety third” approach for generations of older vehicles make it clear that in lieu of low-cost simplicity…we’re supposed to simply have a rollover and die.

Oh. I meant “take it” — as in roll over and take it.

What’s the problem, you ask?

In 1996, Mercedes-Benz lit a match under its image of attractive, stately, refined designs with this concept car, officially the F 200 Imagination. A drivable concept car with baggy sweatpants styling, chrome wheels, screens across its dashboard and a central joystick to operate it all — this tasteless dihedral door coupé is essentially the classic two-door Top Gun version of a numbed-down four-door SHM Afeela (Top Gun: Maverick).

Maybe I’m tired, or tired of clay grey cars, or done with acres of touch-sensitive controls, but am I wrong to think the F200 is the ideal vehicle for a population of car executives and drivers who have completely given up on what made cars great in the first place?

Why bother with steering feel, when there’s a joystick? Make that two joysticks — Mercedes-Benz called them side-sticks, just like in the aerospace industry. 

To do this, Mercedes-Benz needed to invent a drive-by-wire system, which it did, then engineers added all manner of features new car shoppers have since become familiar with: navigation, active suspension, and cameras in place of mirrors.

Outwardly, this ungainly technobarge previewed upcoming the luxury automaker’s S Class and CLS Class models, albeit with way more zhuzh: chrome plate wheels, chrome grille, glass roof, scissor doors, and lots of chrome — even chrome-lined wheel arches.