Strip the Mercedes-Benz C111 back to its specification sheet and the character is already there: C111 , M . Mercedes-Benz built from 1970, as the oil crises and the first emissions rules rewired the industry. Bruno Sacco drew it. The total made was 5.
The background
The Mercedes-Benz C111 was a series of experimental automobiles produced by Daimler-Benz in the 1960s and 1970s. The company was experimenting with new engine technologies, including Wankel engines, diesel engines, and turbochargers, and used the basic C111 platform as a testbed. Other experimental features included multi-link rear suspension, gull-wing doors and a luxurious interior with leather trim and air conditioning. The model inspired later Mercedes-Benz Vision One-Eleven from 2023.
The engineering
Power comes from C111 M  is the published figure; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 1240 kg. Work it out per tonne and you get about 766 horsepower — hypercar territory, where the limiting factor is the tyre, not the engine. It shifts through a 5-speed manual. The layout matters: the engine sits behind the driver and ahead of the rear axle, which puts the mass in the middle of the car and is why mid-engined cars change direction the way they do. The wheelbase is 2620 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Mercedes-Benz SL-X; its successor was the Mercedes-Benz CW311 / Mercedes-Benz C112; assembly was at Untertürkheim, West Germany. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Lola Cars Lola T160 — show what else the money bought that year. Its Mercedes-Benz stablemates include the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL and the Mercedes-Benz C124.
What it costs now
There is no federal ownership record for the Mercedes-Benz C111 — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.