Introduced at the 1981 Frankfurt Auto Show, the Auto 2000 was built to show what a luxury car could look like in the year 2000. Mercedes-Benz didn’t instigate the project on its own; the prototype was created in response to a challenge announced in 1980 by the West German government. Officials asked the participants (Mercedes, Audi and Volkswagen) to build a fully-functional car that was considerably more fuel-efficient than the models racing down the autobahn at the time without compromising on driving range, drivability, space or comfort.
As intended, the Auto 2000 never saw the light that awaits at the end of a production line. It was tested on public roads and sent to the Mercedes-Benz collection once engineers had squeezed the last ounce of knowledge out of it.
