Did you know that Mercedes-Benz tested a joystick control system in...

A 394 hp V-12 without a steering wheel or pedals? Yep, that sounds like a great idea, or something, some brain geniuses at Mercedes, although it was 1996 when the automaker introduced the F200 Imagination concept, which had two joysticks in place of those traditional controls. Yes, imagine. But only two years later, these dreams became a little more real with this Mercedes SL-Class from 1998, which the engineers converted to a fully functional joystick control system as a test bench for drive-by-wire technology.

The two joysticks, known as side sticks, were actually on either side of the driver. Mercedes compared them to video game controllers, and more attractive to jet controls. “A technical bridge to aviation,” they called it. In this happy R129, which is still in the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, you can steer, accelerate, turn, horn, activate the indicators and scare the passengers by screaming: “Somebody stole the steering wheel!”

Technically speaking, you could drive with one stick, both sticks, both sticks. In the drive-by-wire-and-nothing-else system, the driver pushed the joystick forward, back to brake, left or right to drive … left or right. This setup meant that it was also possible to ride the shotgun while seated.

“The R129 with side stick control was the fully functional result of many years [our emphasis] Projects like this exclusively electronically controlled SL are an expression of the consistent will to innovate – and testify to the fact that Mercedes-Benz has researched driving without a steering wheel and pedals at Mercedes-Benz, that Daimler is taking responsibility for the constant further development of the car as a state-of-the-art mobility system. ”

The concept is based on common sense, but nonetheless based. It would eliminate some parts in and out of the interior like the steering wheel and pedals, and you would simply move the sticks from left to right to switch from left to right hand drive. In this case, the engineers took advantage of the extra space on the R129’s dashboard to add a pull-out shelf with a mobile workstation from the late 1990s.

Presumably, the passenger could also save the day if the driver is incapacitated. It could also be confusing for the police: “Which of you drove?” And you would point to the sober or the more sober person.

But let’s let Mercedes explain the system in its own timely, strangely translated press release from the original F200:

“Drive-by-wire is a technical solution that has consequences for the interior, for example. When there are no more steering wheels or pedals, passengers have more space and thus more comfort. It is also used for safety as the cockpit and footwell can be designed completely differently.

“The F200 Imagination embodies the thorough networking of electronic systems. One result is the advanced control of the driving dynamics. The electronics recognize the driver’s commands as requirements for a certain driving condition – accelerate, brake, steer, drive backwards and decide at lightning speed how the commands should best and most safely be carried out. ”

Even at lightning speed, people – and by that we mean Mercedes customers – didn’t ask for side sticks. No good idea goes unpunished.