Monaco Today Issue #01 - Page 52

made in monaco THE MERCEDES-BENZ S-CLASS FOR GOING OUT TO SEA In 2012, the big news from Monaco delighted both sports car connoisseurs and those with a soft spot for exclusive luxury yachts. German automaker Mercedes-Benz announced unveiling the design of a new vessel, which would merge marine and automotive DNA codes with an unequivocal Mercedes-Benz imprint, and would undoubtedly become as much a symbol of luxury representing sporty dynamism and elegance, as a Mercedes S‑class on the road. But at the same time, the authors of the idea were driven by the ambition to create the world's first motor yacht that would embody a radically new approach to the functionality and aesthetics of a luxury yacht. Thus by applying the technologies of the automotive industry in the construction of the vessel, which are now more innovative than those in the yacht building industry. Mercedes-Benz has chosen the Principality of Monaco as the birthplace of its new legend. Thanks to this project, the new Silver Arrows Marine shipyard was established here. The best yacht builders under the leadership of the resident of Monaco, Paolo Bonaveri, a renowned luxury car brand consultant, have been working meticulously for a number of years on the unique concept for the ARROW460-Granturismo. The designers, Martin Francis from England and Tommaso Spadolini from Florence, worked with the Mercedes- Benz team to design a yacht that is elegant, luxurious and comfortable, as well as bearing an incredible resemblance to a car. This is the only yacht out there under the Mercedes-Benz Style label on the stern. The first model of the 14-metre ARROW460- Granturismo was first presented to the public at the Monaco Yacht Show in 2016. The beauty was given the symbolic name The Silver Arrow of the Seas, in honour of the Mercedes Silver Arrow racing cars (the fabled Silver Arrows), which became a revolutionary breakthrough in the distant 1930s. The designers gave the new creation recognizable proportions and features of the automobile Silver Arrows. The ARROW460 -Granturismo, which has