The Mercedes du Mans was a 1:1-scale styling model created by designer Luigi Colani, based on Mercedes-Benz engineering. It was first shown publicly in late summer 1990 at a Colani exhibition held at the Centre international de l'automobile, a car museum in Paris-Pantin. Colani had repeatedly produced proposals for high-performance coupés built on Mercedes foundations, and this model was described as a four-seat prototype intended for wind tunnel testing.
The design featured a continuous air intake integrated into the front bumper, suggesting a deliberate airflow path running beneath the vehicle floor, which rose toward the rear. The windshield was kept extremely flat, and the side windows curved upward into the roofline. The front-end treatment left open the possibility of styling typical of Mercedes-Benz production cars.
