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2008 Mercedes-Benz Four Corners GLK Rock Crawler news, pictures, and information
A Legendary GLK
Regardless of your sport – snowboarding, wakeboarding, skateboarding or any other extreme discipline, the Rock Crawler from Legendary Motorcar Company (LMC) is designed to be the ultimate companion for those seeking an adrenaline fix.What started out as a go-anywhere brief focused on the off-road prowess of the Mercedes-Benz GLK, quickly turned into a do-anything reality when avid skateboarder Ryan Klutt, the 14 year-old son of LMC founder Peter Klutt first heard about the GLK tuner competition.
'I thought right away that it would be great to put a rail on top to turn it into an interactive snowboarding car, and it kind of went from there,' he explains.
Legendary Motors, which is more typically associated with race car fabrication and classic car restoration scene than with custom-tuning of road cars, then set about creating a vehicle that can not only get extreme sports fans to remote locations, but can also play an active role in the sport itself.
Central to the work carried out on the GLK is the gasoline-powered tow winch built into the rear of the vehicle. The 'Grinch Winch' is growing in popularity within the extreme sports community, able to tow boarders of any description at speeds of up to approximately 30 mph. It can be transferred to either the front or the rear of the vehicle and has a hand throttle for tow speed adjustment.
It's one thing to use a vehicle for towing a boarder, it's quite another to integrate the vehicle into the boarding experience. The Rock Crawler also features a detachable ramp system, side and roof-mounted grinding rails and a custom push bar.
Chief Engineer on the project is Ken Stewart, whose specialty is building race cars for Legendary. 'We set out to make the Rock Crawler do something that vehicles were never intended to do,' he explains. 'And the GLK was perfectly suited to the task. It's not too large and has great interior space for mounting the kind of equipment we needed. It also has this young, active image and the grinding rails work really well with its aggressive styling.'
Legendary used stainless steel bars to create the roof and swing-out side-mounted grinding rails. Using the winch and ramp combo to get airborne, boarders then 'grind' or 'jib' their boards along the length of the vehicle before reconnecting with the ground/snow/water at the other end.
A Perspex panel fitted to the roof of the Rock Crawler protects the GLK's panorama sliding roof from boarding debris or, indeed, mistimed boarders themselves. A folding roof-mounted light bar also enables the Rock Crawler to provide play area illumination for its sporting buddies.
To accentuate the visual impact of the Rock Crawler, Legendary worked with graphics specialist Ron Gibbs to create stunning imagery against the backdrop of the GLK's standard Arctic white paint finish. The detailing works together with the clean lines of the GLK's exterior design and adds emphasis to the Rock Crawler's extreme sporting credentials.
While the other specialists in the competition opted to lower the GLK's ride height and increase wheel size for visual or performance reasons, Legendary realized, in order to achieve the go-anywhere character of the Rock Crawler, ride height would have to be increased by 1.5 inches and wheel size would have to go down.
The GLK comes as standard with 19-inch wheels but, working with National Four Wheel Drive, Legendary selected 18-inch Jesse James Black-Widow rims for added all-terrain toughness and to incorporate the extra rubber on the Toyo Open Country AT mudder tires. Meanwhile, ride height was increased with custom-made spacers on the lower control arm at the rear and billet aluminum spacers at the front.
Inside, Legendary has left the standard interior. The GLK's base dimensions provide plenty of stowage area for all manner of sporting gear, including boards and bikes.
To meet the on and off-road performance requirements of the Rock Crawler, Legendary examined the drivetrain of the GLK350 and decided to leave well alone. 'The 3.5-liter V6 has plenty of pulling power and, with 4MATIC all-wheel drive, the standard GLK is perfectly able to get wherever the Rock Crawler needs to be,' comments Ken Stewart. 'And after all,' he adds, 'that's where the fun really starts.Source - Mercedes-Benz
MERCEDES-BENZ REVEALS FOUR TUNED GLKS
In late April, Mercedes-Benz announced a tuning competition based on the new GLK-Class, which is set to launch in January 2009. Four companies were selected for the challenge. The companies inputted their own ideas and design into the GLK and the results will be revealed at this year's Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show.Design concepts include:
The Urban Whip – Florida-based Boulevard Customs is sure to turn heads with this topless version of the GLK, with a wide body styling kit, massive 26-inch wheels and tires, redesigned interior and ground-pounding stereo system.
BRABUS Widestar – Developed by Mercedes-Benz tuning experts Brabus of Bottrop, Germany, this striking wide-track 'designer suit' for the GLK includes a reworked V6 diesel engine based on the 320 BlueTEC engine, flowing front and rear wheel arch flares and redesigned front and rear bumpers complemented with exclusive BRABUS wheels and an interior to match.
The Rock Crawler – Exotic and muscle car restoration specialist Legendary Motor Cars design includes an innovative winching system to propel skate and wakeboarders up to speed and actually 'grind' down the vehicle's specially integrated side rails.
RENNTech Rally Racer – Inspired by the unlimited-class rally cars at the storied Pikes Peak Hillclimb, the GLK concept represents the Mercedes-Benz performance specialist's first hybrid powertrain to enhance acceleration off the line and out of the corners.
The four GLK-Class vehicles will be displayed at this year's SEMA show, taking place November 4-7 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. During the exhibition, attendees will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite design via online and mobile voting. Following the SEMA show, the four vehicles will be displayed at the Los Angeles Auto Show (November 21-30) providing showgoers with another opportunity to cast their vote. The votes from the show attendees and www.mbusa.com will be tallied and the winner will be announced on December 2, 2008.Source - Mercedes-Benz
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