Otherworldly

A drive (sort of) in the Mercedes-Benz Vision AVTR concept reveals pipe dreams, but also possibilities.

- Basem Wasef

THE PREMISE IS simple: present a vision of the automotive future that challenges convention and is so fantastical that it sparks instantaneous demand. Harley Earl’s Buick Y-Job pioneered the idea in 1938, and Mercedes-Benz’s stunning Vision AVTR offers a 21st-century rejoinder.

Unlike Earl’s singularly auteurist creation, the AVTR is the product of a complex collaboration between the world’s oldest carmaker and the team behind the most commercially successful movie of all time, Avatar. Wildly detailed and radically executed, the one-off creation features exceptionally imaginative styling and visceral appeal. It also ticks another simple but critical box that many marques skip with their future-focused flights of fancy: it can move under its own power.

First presented at CES in 2020, the concept was recently reintroduced in conjunction with the Oscar-nominated film sequel Avatar: The Way