Mercedes-Benz may be masters at creating stunning looking cars, but when it comes to movie storylines, well, we have seen better on Nickelodeon. The theme of its entry to the 2011 LA Design Challenge revolves around two crash-test dummies who are trying to foil the attempts of the evil Dr. Crash Barrier. He seems intent on world domination or something. The dummies, Hans05 and Franz02, are blessed with artificial intelligence (not that much though, as they are still crash-test dummies), but most importantly have the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow race car to call upon.
The Silver Arrow, which is inspired by everything from the Silberpfeil race car of the 1930s through to modern Formula 1 (though disappointingly not the 300E Hammer), rides around on electro-magnetic hoops and features a hub-less roller track that allow for 'Omni-directional' manoeuvring. Of course a decent driver can also accomplish omni-directional manoeuvres (all it means is being able to drive in any direction) but our 'heroes' need all the help they can get as they race through time trying to stop Dr. Crash Barrier.
All entries to the Design Challenge are judged on how the vehicle reflects its brand attributes relative to the movie plot; how the vehicle relates to the targeted audience or brand; the level of imagination; the character development of the vehicle; and the uniqueness of the combination of story, car and character. However, it would appear that they are not judged on the actual storyline of the 'movie.' Hence Mercedes-Benz is still in with a good chance of winning this year's competition.
Paul Healy - 6 Nov 2011