Vision A 93 real city car
Because the customer is always right, Mercedes-Benz refined the concept of the A-class until it had assumed the proportions of a traditional hatchback. The public simply did not like the earlier high-rise versions of Mercedes’ most compact car for as long as hoped. And it was well thought out at the time. Thirty years later we look back on the Vision A 93!
In the autumn of 1993, at the IAA of that year, there was a large crowd at the Mercedes-Benz stand. Literally, because the Vision A 93 concept car easily rose above the other Mercedes on the stand, apart from a few off-road giants. While the Mercedes 190 had already been a sensation more than ten years earlier due to its rather modest proportions for the brand, Daimler now presented a car that would, so to speak, fall over if a star were stuck above its grille. Short, narrow and high, and all in all so different from Mercedes-Benz that the concept car had all eyes on it. If the Vision A 93 had been a Renault, Fiat or, for example, Nissan, it would probably have made a slightly less impression.
A 93 already had a sandwich floor
But what exactly did this mobile ‘vision’ entail? That quickly became clear: here was a new-style Mercedes-Benz, with a highly efficient 1.2-liter three-cylinder petrol engine of 75 hp as the drive unit, or a similar diesel of 60 hp. This was linked to a continuously variable transmission with the drive on – sensation! – the front wheels. In addition, there was a 54 hp electric motor on board, the batteries of which were housed in a sandwich floor, which actually found its way into series production in the first A-class five years later. Also new was ARTHUR (hang on tight, it stands for: Automatic Radiocom Communication System for Traffic Emergency Situations on Highways and Urban Roads), which would break into the S-class in 1998 under the name TELEAID (Telematic Alarm Identification on Demand). The three-cylinder engines were also not wasted effort and were used at Smart.
Back to the IAA and other trade fairs of 1993 and 1994, because the public was allowed to express its opinion on the Vision A 93. Because, Daimler management wondered, should something like this be done on behalf of the stately Mercedes-Benz brand? a small thing coming onto the market? Eighty percent of respondents said ‘yes’, which was a strong impetus for management to continue developing the car into a Mercedes-Benz A-class. Small suddenly seemed like the new big. Compact translated the Vision A 93 as hip and trendy, while its modest dimensions were the only right step towards sustainability, efficiency and intelligent use of space.
Third A-class became hatchback
“Vision A 93 will redefine the concept of the compact car,” argued Jürgen Hubbert, then head of Mercedes’ passenger car division. Too bad for him, but the third A-class, which came in 2012, proved him wrong. At least, as far as Mercedes-Benz itself is concerned. The high-rise was a keeper for brands without a star on the nose.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl