Vision's Mercedes Simplex concept dates back to the early 1900s

Concept cars today are complex exercises, often involving complicated technologies and designs. Clearly, they are looking to the future. That's why the latest concept of Mercedes-Benz is a breath of fresh air that aims to simplify it.

Mercedes-Benz unveiled on Saturday the Mercedes Simplex Vision concept. Designed as a new-age look on the Mercedes 35 PS from 1901, this concept avoids some of the complications that could result in a simpler homage, but it still features many futuristic twists.

It takes about a millisecond of concept review to understand that it is based on something well before our time. Although the outer wheels and the apparent joints resemble those of Minority Report, the rest of the design is simply classic, with enough room for two and even a nifty baggage bag attached to the back. The vintage Mercedes logo makes its appearance, but the body is loaded with touches of the 21st century like pink gold accents.

The grille is one of the most interesting pieces. Behind its pink gold frame is a three-dimensional screen that displays a digital version of the Mercedes logo of the early twentieth century. While the interior of the original Simplex is a mix of tubes and levers, the interior of the concept is radically simplified through a few switches on the dashboard.

Many modern concepts give a glimpse of future cars, but not this one. There's a snowball chance that something like this never gets to production, given the extremely long list of regulations that every new car has to meet, but it's still an interesting exercise in what can happen when designers of a car manufacturer have the opportunity to break free of these limitations. Hopefully, there is more like that in the future.