Mercedes-Benz C111-II 1970 Orange Norev 1:18

Few show cars in automotive history carry the weight of intent that the Mercedes-Benz C111-II does. Unveiled in March 1970, it was not a styling exercise but a working engineering statement — a fibreglass-and-steel prototype built around a 3.5-litre four-rotor Wankel rated at approximately 350 hp, capable of a claimed 300 km/h. Norev has translated that machine into a die-cast 1:18 replica finished in the unmistakable factory orange.

The Machine Mercedes Refused to Sell

The C111-II was the direct evolution of the 1969 C111-I, replacing that car's three-rotor Wankel with the enlarged KKM 350 four-rotor unit. The bodyshell — gull-wing doors, fibreglass panels over a tubular steel spaceframe — carried over largely unchanged, but the performance ceiling rose sharply. A top speed of approximately 300 km/h placed the C111-II among the fastest prototypes of the early 1970s. Mercedes-Benz never opened an order book; the company deflected every one of the thousands of purchase enquiries it received.

One Colour, One Identity

The vivid orange was not accidental. Mercedes-Benz chose it deliberately to signal the experimental, forward-looking character of the entire C111 programme, applying the same shade to the C111-I in 1969 and carrying it through to the C111-II in 1970. The car toured the major European motor shows that year, drawing crowds and reinforcing the colour as inseparable from the C111 identity. That orange also connects this car to the diesel-powered C111 record-breakers of 1976–1978, which set multiple world speed records at Nardò — making the 1970 show car the starting point of a remarkable lineage.

Norev's 1:18 Die-Cast Interpretation

Norev produced this replica in die-cast metal within their 1:18 range dedicated to classic and historic Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Die-cast construction at this scale allows Norev to reproduce the C111-II's distinctive wedge profile, the gull-wing door shut lines, and the full-gloss orange bodywork with the precision that the subject demands. The model sits within a catalogue that has long been the reference point for mainstream 1:18 Mercedes-Benz replicas in the collector market.

Placing It in a Collection

The C111-II pairs naturally with the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing — the gull-wing door is a direct visual link between the two cars, and Norev produces a 1:18 300 SL that makes a coherent pairing. Collectors building a Mercedes experimental-car thread can extend the display toward the diesel C111 record cars of the late 1970s. For anyone focused on the Wankel rotary era or on European supercar prototypes of 1969–1973, the C111-II in orange is the centrepiece the shelf is built around.