The B&B (Mercedes-Benz) CW311 was designed by Eberhard Schulz and built at Rainer Buchmann's tuning garage in Germany. It made its debut in 1979 and quickly became a poster car for every car-crazed teenager of its day.
Schulz did not finish his mechanical engineering studies, but from about 1968, he began building his own automobile in a large laundry room in Klostermoor in East Frisia. This first effort was called the Erator GT, a mid-engine coupe with a welded steel tube spaceframe, upon which the fiberglass body was bonded.
The Erator went through three stages in the course of its development. At first, a 1.6-liter VW engine was sourced, then a 2.3-liter V6 from a Ford Capri, finally with the 5-liter V8 from Mercedes (M117). The Erator became Schulz's calling card, and the exposure it generated got him interviews with Mercedes Benz and Porsche.
He was ultimately hired by Porsche but went on to work for Rainer Buchmann at his iconic "B&B" tuning and design firm. There Schulz designed the CW311, which was inspired by the experimental 311 series from Mercedes Benz. It was intended as a theoretical follow-on to the original cars.
The CW311 was named after its remarkable drag coefficient of 0.311. It caused quite a stir upon its debut in Frankfurt, being featured on the cover of top car magazines in both Europe and the United States throughout the following year. In a contemporary article, Stern magazine called the vehicle "the bomb." The supercar also received its own feature film, "Car-Napping," shot in Cannes. The CW311 was so well received that Mercedes allowed it to wear its insignia and branding because the car remained a 'one-off.'
Eberhard Schulz, quoted in Classic Driver, recounts its origin. "I was a Porsche man through and through. But Mercedes was always the biggest. The Compressor era, Silver Arrows, Post-war Formula 1, 300 SL". This inspired Schulz with his idea of a supercar. Modern, but not fashionable, his sports car should be out of the ordinary. "My design had to beat all the usual sports car brands in the driving performance. It should look like a Mercedes, even if there was no star on the vehicle. Yes, it had to look like a Mercedes, even though it was not from the factory".
Schulz continued, "The typical SL face came naturally: a large Mercedes star with a ring, framed by side trims on the right and left on the front grille." And gullwing doors, of course! "The rear had the large rear lights of the then SEL. The heart, the engine of the 600, maximum possible power – almost 400 bhp thanks to tuning. At that time, this was only available at AMG". As mentioned, the CW311 used the AMG Mercedes-Benz V8, mounted longitudinally, and mated to a 5-Speed ZF transmission.
The car's fiberglass bodywork was mounted to a tubular steel spaceframe chassis, around an aluminum tub, and independent suspension with disc brakes at all four corners. The rolling stock featured 15-inch wheels with 10" and 13" wide Pirelli tires in front and rear, respectively. The whole package was good for a sub 5 second run from 0-60 and a 200mph top speed.
While only one CW311 was made, the design went with Schulz when he left B&B in an acrimonious split in 1982. By '83, Buchmann's company had gone bankrupt, and Schulz released a topless, roadster version of the car called the "Imperator," under his newly formed company Isdera. The name was an acronym that stood for "Ingenieurbüro für Styling, DEsign und RAcing."
Eventually, Schulz also produced more examples of the original B&B CW311, now called the Imperator 108i. All were powered by Mercedes Benz engines and running gear. Between the Spyder and Imperator, 30 examples were made.
Images: OldConceptCars.com