- Long tailbacks, scarce parking spaces, and congested roadways raised new questions in motor vehicle research.
- Mercedes-Benz answered them in 1981 with the concept study “Nahverkehrsfahrzeug”, the acronym “NAFA” – the short-distance vehicle.
- CLcompany is delighted to feature the facts about the 1981’s Classic Mercedes-Benz NAFA.
- Flashback Mercedes-Benz engineers were able to identify the issues that the majority of drivers faced on a regular basis.
- Thus, they launched the NAFA, a Mercedes vehicle that closely resembled a refrigerator, in 1981.
Long tailbacks, scarce parking spaces, and congested roadways raised new questions in motor vehicle research. Mercedes-Benz answered them in 1981 with the concept study “Nahverkehrsfahrzeug”, the acronym “NAFA” – the short-distance vehicle. CLcompany is delighted to feature the facts about the 1981’s Classic Mercedes-Benz NAFA.
Flashback
Mercedes-Benz engineers were able to identify the issues that the majority of drivers faced on a regular basis. Thus, they launched the NAFA, a Mercedes vehicle that closely resembled a refrigerator, in 1981. The NAFA is a concept that played a crucial role in developing a few of Mercedes’s lines of cars, including the A-Class.
Years in production – 1981
The Design
NAFA was created as “a short-distance travel vehicle.” It was intended to be used for driving through urban areas with scarce parking. As such, Mercedes constructed the car with an overall length of little over eight feet. It was not particularly tall, coming in at just under five feet. It was a small car in every sense of the word because it could make a full turn inside of a 19-foot circle. The package included air conditioning, automatic transmission, and four-wheel steering. The short proportions of the NAFA gave it exceptional flexibility in even the smallest locations, and parking would never be an issue again. Given its small frame, slots no longer than four meters long were more than adequate for it, and thanks to the four-wheel steering, it could also be steered into gaps in the forward direction. The NAFA also had a number of other qualities that made it suitable for city driving, including a low waistline, a high seating position, and large windows that provided the best possible all-around view.
Top Specifications of Mercedes-Benz NAFA
- Displacement – 1 cm3
- Power – 40 hp
- Transmission – automatic
- Length – 2500 mm / 98.4 in
- Width – 1500 mm / 59.1 in
- Height – 1500 mm / 59.1 in
Fall of NAFA
The study was rejected before it could even reach the assembly line since it could not possibly meet the high safety requirements of the automobile manufacturer. To overcome this obstacle, creative new ideas were required, but they didn’t start to take shape until many years later with the sandwich design for the A-Class and the passenger safety cell for the smart.
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