Mercedes Benz is famous for its range of cars, trucks buses and vans, but the company has ambitions beyond the land. Last year, Mercedes took to the skies with the Eurocopter EC145 Mercedes Benz Style luxury helicopter, and now it has eyes on the seas as part of its vision of “all encompassing mobility.” Presenting the designs at the 2012 Monaco Yacht Show, Mercedes has teamed up with UK-based boat-building company Silver Arrows Marine to design what it describes as a “14-meter (46 ft) long seagoing Granturismo.”
Dubbed the “Silver Arrow of the seas,” the boat takes its name from the Silver Arrow racing cars that dominated events in the 1930s, and the Mercedes-Benz Formula One and sports cars of 1954/55. Mercedes describes the Silver Arrow as having “innovations hitherto unknown in the boat industry,” though, like King Lear's “terrors of the earth,” the company’s a bit vague on the details.
As the gallery images show, the Silver Arrow takes its design cues from Mercedes' luxury car line while Silver Arrow Marine is in charge of the technical equipment and construction. Mercedes says that the Silver Arrow is “suitable for a wide range of uses” and “the motor yacht can also offer overnight accommodation.”
Possibly, but from the design images, it looks as if overnight accommodation is about the limit. Unlike the previous two cigarette racing boats that Mercedes built in partnership with the Cigarette Racing Team company, the Silver Arrow appears to be mainly a luxury day motor-cruiser built for a fun burst of speed, lashings of comfort once you’ve reached some suitable Mediterranean swimming area, then it’s back to Monte Carlo for drinks.
The “Silver Arrow of the seas” is due to come on the market in 2013.
Source: Mercedes-Benz