It wasn’t the most beautiful car to sport the three-pointed star badge but it did a great job in other areas.
The F 700 has a controversial exterior design and futuristic interior. It offers diesel fuel economy with its small, electrified gasoline engine. How many cars are you familiar with that have only the right rear door hinged at its rear?
Mercedes has had a long history with research vehicles. The F 700 is perhaps the most bizarre of all the F 700’s in terms of design. However, the F 100 was an automotive anomaly. The fullsize concept, which was introduced in Germany at the IAA, nearly 11 years ago, is billed as the most economical large sedan, consuming just 5.3 liters/100 km (44.3 mpg).
Although it might not seem impressive in 2018, this was quite significant in 2007 when the F 700 used a gasoline engine. The engine was powered by a small four cylinder with a displacement of 1.8 liters and a pair turbochargers. The engine featured direct injection and a new type compression ignition. It was nicknamed “DiesOtto” because it combined technology from diesel engines with characteristics of gasoline units that run on the Otto cycle.
It would seem that a concept that measures 5.18m (17 feet) would be weak. However, the full-size luxury sedan reached 62 mph (100 km/h) in just 7.5 seconds. The top speed was electronically controlled at 124 mph (200 km/h). Because the engine was accompanied with a small electric motor, it didn’t do all of the work.
It was much shorter than the S-Class, but it still had a longer wheelbase due to its shorter front and back overhangs. This allowed for more space inside the tech-laden cabin, where we can see two digital screens that are similar to the current Mercedes production cars.
As with every other research vehicle from Mercedes, the F 700 was a veritable technological tour de force: LED headlights, low-rolling-resistance tires, 3D camera, automatic headlights and windshield wipers, and even an auto rear window heater. The adaptive suspension was able to scan the road ahead using lasers, and make any necessary adjustments to ensure comfort on bumpy roads.
Today, most of this technology is considered standard, but many of these systems were new in the second half 2000s, which opened the door to the current Mercedes-Benz production cars.
You may be wondering what happened to this car. Wikipedia claims it was presented to Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE president.