Ushering in many technological breakthroughs for
Mercedes, the C 112 is an important concept. Its juicy specs are also worthy of
our attention, as is the great design with those spectacular gullwing doors.
Following a quartet of C 111 concepts that should be
familiar to fans of the three-pointed star, 1991 saw the return of the gullwing
doors for another concept that hasn’t withstood the test of time as well.
Envisioned as a road-going buddy of the Sauber-Mercedes C 11 Group C race car,
the concept was quite interesting from many points of view.
For starters, the C 112 was Mercedes’ very first car
to benefit from the active suspension system dubbed “Active Body Control,”
which went on to debut in a production model in 1999 with the CL-Class (C125).
The supercar came with a combination of spring and hydraulic servo cylinder for
each wheel to form the active suspension smart enough to adjust itself based on
the data gathered by the sensors. Back then, Mercedes said the setup offered the
concept an “unprecedented level of stable roadholding” further enhanced by the
implementation of rear-wheel steering.
Active aero is not that uncommon nowadays on
high-end sports cars, but back in the early 1990s, it was a rare feature. The C
112 was engineered with a fully adjustable front and rear spoiler, with the
latter remaining inactive during normal driving and extending at higher speeds
as well as when going fast through the corners.
The rear spoiler was also developed to improve hard
braking by going up into the wind like a sail when coming to a full stop from
high speeds. This actively controlled airfoil at the back doubling as an air
brake was seen in a production car some 12 years after the concept, in the 2003
SLR McLaren.
Another important novelty was the intelligent cruise
control system that later evolved to become Distronic in the 1998 S-Class
(W220). The concept’s electronic tire pressure monitoring system was adopted in
1999 by the aforementioned CL.
Beyond the tech it offered, the C 112 was a proper
supercar packing a mid-mounted 6.0-liter V12 with 408 Hp and 580 Nm of torque. It was enough to
enable the concept reach a top speed in excess of 300 kph after
hitting 100 kph in just 4.9 seconds.
The C 112 never made it to production, even though
individual buyers did get in touch with Mercedes to try and buy one. The
company attempted to find a way to build the supercar with help from Sauber,
but ultimately the project was sadly canned.
