In the early 1980s, Mercedes-Benz began work on a fundamentally new car, which was named NAFA. This project was initiated due to the realities of the overcrowded city with a catastrophic shortage of parking spaces.

At the 1982 anniversary exhibition, the Daimler-Benz concern presented not only the history of its developments, but also the future of the car. About 50 scientific and experimental design projects were shown, including the compact two-seater Mercedes-Benz NAFA, only 2.5 meters long and 1.5 meters wide and high, contradicting all the principles that the company had adhered to before.

The only reason that prevented the serial production of the car was the discrepancy with the high requirements for the safety of the driver and passenger, and this requirement, as you know, has always been the most priority for the concern. In order to overcome this drawback, engineers needed completely new ideas. The NAFA concept was not forgotten and found its application in the prototypes of the A-Class 1996 (W168) and Smart Fortwo.