Bruno Sacco, the legendary Mercedes-Benz design chief, died on September 19, 2024, at the age of 90. Sacco was born in Italy, so he went to the Polytechnic University of Turin, and then studied at Pininfarina and Ghia, as one does under the circumstances. Rather than work at one of the Italian car companies, he took a job in the styling department at Mercedes-Benz in the late ’50s.
While his designs there were not necessarily the subject of fever dreams, he created some stellar cars that have stood the test of time.
Sacco’s cars had a sensible stateliness to them, big, solid, always perfectly proportioned, and well-engineered. Much like the mechanical aspects of the Mercedes brand. Since their cars were engineered to last forever, the styling needed to stand the test of time as well. For that reason, he was against planned obsolescence, saying “The successor was never allowed to make the predecessor look really old.”
One exception to his sedate sedans was the C 111, a GT-racer-proportioned sports car/supercar with a Wankel engine. This wedge was designed not as a flight of fancy, but with production in mind while showcasing futuristic but plausible features. In fact, they produced 16 of them.
It was a rare case of big dreams coming true.
Before I had ever heard of him, Matchbox offered a 1/64 model of the C 111, and it was one of my favorite 1/64 model cars of my childhood. Several companies made diecast versions of it, most focusing on the working gull-wing doors. The Matchbox version had an opening feature, but it was the rear engine cover. And instead of the motor, there was… space for a battery.
And what did that battery do? It illuminated the headlights!!! Yes, the first edition of this model had working lights!!! Pop-up headlights!!! Real light-up pop-up headlights!!! AAAAAAAHHHH!!!
Well, sort of. Turns out they didn’t work very well. There was a tiny switch under the front bumper that made the headlights go up and also made an electrical connection that was supposed to turn them on. But it was so unreliable that very few were made before Matchbox modified the casting to include the pop-up mechanism, but not actually lit. And they filled the battery bay with a chrome rotary engine.
Watch this video from Toy Trash to see all the details as well as a restored, functioning model. Seriously, it’s a great watch!
Most kids were not disappointed by this arrangement, as they had never even seen the full deluxe version. They just saw a cool model with the coolest kind of lights (even if they weren’t functional.)
Count me among those who were never even aware of the full promise of this Matchbox model. Much like Sacco’s original design, this was a car that stretched the creative boundaries just enough to remain a potential production vehicle packed with tons of innovation. And for that, we thank you, Mister Sacco.
Ron Ruelle is a cartoonist, writer, and illustrator who also writes about model cars. You can see his work at www.ronruelle.com
