Mercedes-Benz goes back to the future with EQ Silver Arrow concept car

Mercedes-Benz' new EQ Silver Arrow concept car is an electric-vehicle fantasy inspired by the brand’s Silver Arrows heyday in the 1930s.

Paying homage to the original W 125 race car, which in 1937 set the record for fastest land-speed vehicle on a public road by traveling nearly 435km/h, the electric one-seater joins a long list of memorable concepts that Mercedes shows off every year at Monterey Car Week in advance of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Like those other pieces of whimsy on wheels, this Rocketeer-like racer won't get anywhere near production, but Mercedes-Benz design chief Gorden Wagener says they’re useful to illustrate how the brand’s future will look, embodied in one car.

As the name suggests, the EQ Silver Arrow is extremely long – a little over 5 metres – yet thin, with a carbon-fiber front splitter and side skirts with a lighting strip.

Large, recessed EQ lettering heralds the company’s EQ brand of battery-electric vehicles, illuminated in blue at the nose and also behind the front wheels.

The “Alubeam Silver” paint work on the body of the car is similar to the type used on the original Silver Arrow cars.

The rear diffuser also looks like those on vintage racers, with an extendable spoiler that acts as an air brake by increasing the wind resistance as the car decelerates.

The rose-gold wheels have 168 aluminum spokes and non-rotating hubcaps with Pirelli tires.

Inside are gray, suede sidewalls, as well as aluminum-and-walnut trim; the saddle-brown leather is laser-etched with stars.

The dashboard is curved in a three-dimensional panoramic screen that can project images from behind the car, and in the center of the steering wheel is an integrated touchscreen. A lever on the side of the seat adjusts the pedal height to better suit the driver’s height.

The sound on the interior of the car can be programmed to evoke the engine noise of either the Formula 1 Silver Arrow or a Mercedes-AMG V8 engine.

If the EQ Silver Arrow was to be manufactured for sale, Wagener said, it would have an output of 738 horsepower, thanks to a thin, rechargeable battery of roughly 80 kWh and a driving range of more than 400km.

Hannah Elliott

Hannah Elliott is the resident motoring writer at Bloomberg.