
There is only one of this Mercedes-Benz F200 "Imagination". It was built as a concept car, presented at the Paris motor show in 1996, then put in a museum and later sold for an incredible NOK 100 million!
The purpose of concept cars like this is to showcase and test new ideas on the public. Often it's about pure style studies - cars to be seen but not driven. The Daimler-Benz concept car was not just a style study – it was packed with new features technology. The biggest news was that the steering wheel and pedals were replaced with joysticks. Today, one can safely say that it was a dead end. Joysticks work well on game consoles, but even die-hard "gamers" would feel unsafe in a real car without a steering wheel and pedals. Daimler-Benz launched the joystick solution under the name "Sidesticks". The car driver had two joysticks – one on each side – in the driver's door and on the center console. The F200 concept car was also equipped with Sidesticks for the passenger. A bizarre solution that can resemble an airplane cockpit.

Well, the joystick was a dead end, but the solution from 1996 actually showed a completely unique, complete and working drive-by-wire concept. With joysticks, this technology became very visible.


A feasibility study
The Mercedes-Benz F200 “Imagination” Coupé was, as the name suggests, a feasibility study of new technology. The confirmation that the technology was possible was proven by the fact that all innovative solutions worked in practice. The car was - and still is - fully drivable.
First museum, then sold
I saw the car for the first time at Mercedes-Benz World in England in 2018. Before that, judging by the photos, it was probably on display at the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart. After my first encounter with the car, it has been exhibited at the London Concours, and it will now be privately owned. The sale price was just under 10 million dollars, i.e. 100 million Norwegian kroner. An unfathomable sum that may turn out to be a good investment. The car is both unique and historic - and no slouch with a 6,0 liter V12 engine. In any case, this can never be a car you can use on a daily basis. Who dares to take such an expensive car out into London traffic and maneuver it with Sidesticks instead of a steering wheel and pedals?
My first impressions of the car were not overwhelming. It was not particularly well placed for photography, partially hidden by tape and a poster, as well as an open boot lid where the lid was raised in a horizontal position so that the car's fine lines were broken.
Created rumors
When the car was shown to the public, it bore the registration number “SCL600”. This led the automotive press to speculate whether the next generation S CL 600 would be offered with joystick steering, which was not well received in the social media of the time. The new CL class (C215) was then launched 2 years later without the beautiful glass roof and without joystick control. But Daimler-Benz had not given up on the idea. In 1998, they showed off an SL 500 (R129) with "Sidesticks" - a prototype which was placed in a museum after a short time.
In terms of design, one can sense the line following the F200 "Imagination" in the CL class that came in 1998. But the concept car also gives clear associations to another Mercedes-Benz model that was launched at the same time as the F200, namely the small sports car SLK (R170).


See
