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Mercedes is fast-preparing to launch its EQ all-electric car brand to the world, and to whip up some hype, it's showing off this, the Vision EQ Silver Arrow, at the Monterey Car Week in California.
"Over 80 years ago, the historic Silver Arrows demonstrated that Mercedes-Benz was a pioneer when it came to speed thanks, among other things, to their streamlined shape," says Gorden Wagener, Chief Design Officer at Daimler AG. "The Vision EQ Silver Arrow draws on that legacy. Intended for acceleration and driving pleasure, it embodies progressive luxury and provides an insight into the future of our design. As a result, the show car drives the design idiom of our new EQ product and technology brand to the top."
It's rare that modern-day Mercedes makes overt reference to its pre-war racing past (when its cars and team were in part financed by grants from the Nazi government) but the EQ Silver Arrow is said to be directly influenced by the speed-record, streamlined, W125 racing car of 1937.
The EQ Silver Arrow is a single-seat car, wrapped in fully enveloping bodywork, with the driver and cockpit exposed in the classic Grand Prix style. The entire 5.3-metre-long structure is made from carbon-fibre, while the front and side strips, and the EQ lettering on the nose, are all backlit in bright blue.
The spoked wheels are partially uncovered (again, in classic Grand Prix style), and have 168 spokes each, all painted in a distinctive rose-gold colour. The tyres, specially made for the car by Pirelli, have a star-shaped pattern in the tread, and at the rear of the car there are two adjustable spoilers, which can tilt upright to act as airbrakes.
The cockpit opening folds forward, and inside there is saddle-brown leather upholstery, polished aluminium solid walnut finishings, and a dark, pinstriped, wooden floor. There is high tech, though. The entire windscreen is a projection surface for a heads-up display, and there's an 'Airscarf' heater in the back of the seat.
That big heads-up display has a number of functions, including showing the driver which lane of their road they're on has been set up for inductive charging, and the display can also show you a 'ghost' image of a classic Mercedes race car for you to compete against when on a track. There's a Virtual Race Coach assistant, which gives you hints and tips as you drive.
All of the car's functions are controlled by a touchscreen, which is set into the steering wheel.
The Silver Arrow's electric powertrain develops 750hp, has an 80kWh battery, and a notional one-charge range of 400km. Mercedes hasn't quoted a top speed, but it's unlikely to match the 432.7km/h set by the great Rudolf Caracciola in the streamlines racing car that inspired it...