Looking back, it is stunning how much of the future the Mercedes-Benz F 100 research vehicle already featured in 1991.
Be it operating the phone with buttons on the steering wheel, distance control or the electronic tyre pressure monitoring system as well as many attributes of networked vehicles: what seemed utopian three decades ago forms part of the familiar equipment scope of contemporary passenger cars and commercial vehicles.
The research vehicle was presented to the public on 12 January 1991 at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, USA, a specialist exhibition that has been held since back in 1907.
Engineers and designers fitted more pioneering technology in the F 100 than in any research vehicle ever before.
At the same time, however, the list of technology carriers is as long as it is impressive.
It all started with the Patent Motor Car by Carl Benz dating back to 1886, the world’s first ever car and also an experimental vehicle.
And the list is far from complete with the 2020 “VISION AVTR” concept vehicle.