Photo: Jesse Miettinen
Mercedes-Benz cars were never suited to become proper hot rods. Even though the Germans made their fair share of roadsters during the 1930s, their luxury status meant nobody in their right mind would ever think about removing any of their panels, not to mention swapping their engines.
Besides, cars had a very different status back then compared to where they stand now. For one thing, they weren't so commonly available - at least not the ones that commanded such a high premium like the Mercs. Owning a Mercedes-Benz in the USA back in the 1930s automatically made you a very profitable businessman or a successful lawyer - in other words, the last kind of person who would be interested in hot rods.
Mercedes cars were a symbol of status, so what you wanted was for everyone to know you were driving a Benz as quickly as possible. Modifying wouldn't have helped with that. Actually, that was the kind of activity associated with the lower ranks of the society, an area a person of your caliber would want to steer clear of.
In modern days, hot rodding has a much better reputation to its name, but even so, you'll struggle to find any based on a Mercedes-Benz. Well, perhaps that's why artist Jesse Miettinen felt the need to make one, though we're afraid this one is restricted to the world of ones and zeros.
The Mercedes-Benz hot rod ticks all the right boxes: it's got a short, slanted nose, no fenders, fat tires, wire-spoke wheels, and six exhaust pipes so large you'd have a hard time finding six potatoes big enough to muffle all of them.
Speaking of the exhausts, while hot rods are not meant to be particularly practical, they're probably not supposed to kill their drivers either, but that's exactly what those pipes releasing their toxic fumes and carbon monoxide in the face of the people inside will do. Slowly. Now you're driving your Mercedes hot rod, now you're coughing blood.
However bad that is, it's not the worst thing about this rendering. The most atrocious part of it is that... it's not really a Mercedes-Benz. Apart from the three-pointed star on the grille and wheels and the badge on the back, nothing about it says "Mercedes." It's as generic as they come. Jesse had the golden opportunity to be one of the first to come up with a true hot rod based on one of the brand's iconic models, and he failed. It has a certain air of luxury to it, a "you can't afford me" vibe, but that's it.
It's a nice non-Mercedes-Benz hot rod, nevertheless.
Mercedes cars were a symbol of status, so what you wanted was for everyone to know you were driving a Benz as quickly as possible. Modifying wouldn't have helped with that. Actually, that was the kind of activity associated with the lower ranks of the society, an area a person of your caliber would want to steer clear of.
In modern days, hot rodding has a much better reputation to its name, but even so, you'll struggle to find any based on a Mercedes-Benz. Well, perhaps that's why artist Jesse Miettinen felt the need to make one, though we're afraid this one is restricted to the world of ones and zeros.
The Mercedes-Benz hot rod ticks all the right boxes: it's got a short, slanted nose, no fenders, fat tires, wire-spoke wheels, and six exhaust pipes so large you'd have a hard time finding six potatoes big enough to muffle all of them.
Speaking of the exhausts, while hot rods are not meant to be particularly practical, they're probably not supposed to kill their drivers either, but that's exactly what those pipes releasing their toxic fumes and carbon monoxide in the face of the people inside will do. Slowly. Now you're driving your Mercedes hot rod, now you're coughing blood.
However bad that is, it's not the worst thing about this rendering. The most atrocious part of it is that... it's not really a Mercedes-Benz. Apart from the three-pointed star on the grille and wheels and the badge on the back, nothing about it says "Mercedes." It's as generic as they come. Jesse had the golden opportunity to be one of the first to come up with a true hot rod based on one of the brand's iconic models, and he failed. It has a certain air of luxury to it, a "you can't afford me" vibe, but that's it.
It's a nice non-Mercedes-Benz hot rod, nevertheless.
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