The purpose of automobiles is to overcome distances and bring people together – any time, anywhere. But the days when cars were little more than an engine mounted on four wheels are long since gone. Exceptional automobiles also satisfy high expectations in terms of their performance, safety, comfort and value retention. The ideal car will combine desirable features such as these to create a very special quality experience.

Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler invented the automobile independently of one another in 1886. Since then, Mercedes-Benz has consistently developed cars with a combination of brand-specific fascination and traditional sense of responsibility that has turned many into icons of automotive history.

We take great pleasure in the enduring fascination classic cars convey and the enthusiasm private and institutional collectors from around the world set free. Over 120 years of automotive passion are all the incentive and commitment Mercedes-Benz needs to continue the great tradition of the brand and to carry on producing outstanding cars in the years ahead. Our heritage is a long now.

The Goodwood Festival of Speed has been supported by Mercedes-Benz as a main sponsor right from the start and developed into one of the most significant events on the worldwide classic calendar. This is where the aura of the Mercedes-Benz brand, developed over more than 120 years, comes into its own in the presence of spectators whose competence and enthusiasm is quite unique on a global scale.

Performance, safety, reliability and value retention – a good balance of qualities in every Mercedes-Benz
Racing and rally drivers expect their cars to deliver the performance, reliability and safety they require. Our other customers also look for long-term economic efficiency in their vehicles, as well as traditional Mercedes-Benz comfort.

Mercedes-Benz has consistently aimed to offer cars with a finely tuned blend of the required qualities – all at the highest possible level, of course, and without neglecting or placing undue emphasis on any significant criteria. This harmony and constant innovation in automotive design is the product of intensive research, development and testing – a performance output that dates from the high ideals established by Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler. In the interests of its customers, whether in motor sport or everyday traffic, Mercedes-Benz stays the course. The Mercedes-Benz star continues leading the way on roads from anywhere to everywhere.

At this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, Mercedes-Benz will be out on the track outside Goodwood House with Grand Prix cars from 1906 and 1908. The brand will also exhibit outstanding supercharged cars from the 1930s as highlights of the Cartier “Style et Luxe” Concours d’Elégance.

The 120 hp Mercedes racing car of 1906 is one of the last original designs of Wilhelm Maybach. The car from the collection of the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart was entered in the Semmering hillclimb race in 1908 and has since been a static exhibit most of the time. The car is now presented to the public again.

The 120 hp Benz Grand Prix racing car from the collection of the Mercedes-Benz Museum visited Goodwood several times already. Driving a car such as this one, Christian Lautenschlager won the French Grand Prix in Dieppe in 1908 – exactly 100 years ago. At the time, the car competed in the world’s most significant races; today it joins other cars from the anniversary year to participate in one of the world’s most significant classic car events, thus giving the Goodwood spirit wings.

Alongside the Grand Prix cars, Mercedes-Benz displays cars from the collection of the Mercedes-Benz Museum in the Cartier “Style et Luxe” Concours d’Elégance:


1) 1934 Mercedes-Benz 500 K open tourer, color: red/gray

2) 1936 Mercedes-Benz 500 K convertible B, color: dark blue

3) 1936 Mercedes-Benz 500 K convertible C, color: gray/white

4) 1936 Mercedes-Benz 500 K special roadster, color: brown

5) 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540 K convertible A, color: black

6) Mercedes-Benz 500 K chassis


As inventors of the car, Mercedes-Benz wishes all participants every enjoyment in this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed!

Copyright © 2008, Daimler AG