Mercedes-Benz, the world’s oldest car manufacturer, has a rich history of reinventing the automobile since 1886. Over the years, the brand has continually set new standards while adapting to social change. Here’s a summary of some key anniversaries and milestones from Mercedes-Benz’s history:

Mercedes-Benz Coupé der Baureihe W 114. Es wird 1968 vorgestellt und bis 1972 produziert. Foto aus dem Jahr 1970. (Fotosignatur der Mercedes-Benz Classic Archive: 1999DIG442)
Mercedes-Benz Coupé from the W 114 model series. It was presented in 1968 and produced until 1972. Photo from 1970. (Photo index number in the Mercedes-Benz Classic Archives: 1999DIG442)

30 September 1913 – 110 years ago Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft opened the luxurious “Mercedes Palace” in Unter den Linden, Berlin. This high-class showroom had space for 15 Mercedes vehicles and introduced a customer-centric marketing concept with a restaurant and cultural events. It became a hub for Berlin’s elite. Benz & Cie. also established its presence in Berlin earlier, with its first agency in 1897 and a sales office in 1901.

1 October 1883 – 140 years ago Carl Benz, along with Max Caspar Rose and Friedrich Wilhelm Esslinger, founded Benz & Co. Rheinische Gasmotoren-Fabrik, a pioneering company that produced stationary two-stroke engines. This success led to the creation of the Benz Patent Motor Car in 1886, the world’s first automobile, powered by a petrol engine.

1 to 11 October 1998 – 25 years ago Mercedes-Benz unveiled the S-Class from the 220 model series at the Paris Motor Show. This luxurious vehicle featured 30 technical innovations, including the optional DISTRONIC proximity control system and the “Cockpit Management and Data System” (COMAND). It retained the generous feeling of spaciousness from its predecessor, with 484,697 units produced by 2005.

4 to 14 October 1928 – 95 years ago Mercedes-Benz presented the Nürburg 460, its first eight-cylinder car, named after extensive testing on the Nürburgring circuit. Designed by Ferdinand Porsche, this model developed 80 hp from a 4.6-liter engine. Porsche’s successor, Hans Nibel, further improved the Nürburg 460, with 2,893 examples produced until 1933.

19 November 1968 – 55 years ago The exclusive “Stroke/eight” Coupé in the upper medium class was introduced, featuring a six-cylinder engine and frameless fully retractable side windows. A total of 67,048 units were produced, based on the W 114 model series, while the corresponding four-cylinder saloons were designated the W 115 model series.

23 December 1953 – 70 years ago The Mercedes-Benz 220 Coupé from the W 187 model series joined the product range, becoming the early forerunner of luxury-class coupés from Mercedes-Benz. It was initially built for Dr. Wilhelm Haspel’s wife and went on sale in December 1953. With a retail price of DM 20,850, it was the most expensive model in the W 187 model series, with 85 examples produced by July 1955.

Birthdays

• 90 years ago, on 12 November 1933, Bruno Sacco, an Italian born in Udine, began working at Mercedes-Benz as a constructor and designer. He left a lasting impact on the brand’s models, particularly the S-Class Coupé from the 126 model series.
• 90 years ago, on 13 December 1933, Paul Bracq, born in Bordeaux, significantly influenced Mercedes-Benz car design from 1957 to the end of the 1960s, particularly with models like the SL from the W 113 model series (“Pagoda”) and the 600 (W 100), as well as the “Stroke/eight” models from the W 114/115 model series.

Press Release
Stuttgart,
September 26, 2023

Mercedes-Benz, the world’s oldest car manufacturer, has been reinventing the car over and over since 1886. As it does so, the brand continually sets new standards, while also keeping pace with social change. The history of the company is correspondingly rich in events and stories. Here is a brief summary of some of the important anniversaries and milestones from its history.

30 September 1913 – 110 years ago

Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft opened the “Mercedes Palace” in Unter den Linden

• Car manufacturers increasingly had their own retail outlets
• These companies had a particularly strong presence in the capital Berlin
• High-class showroom with space for 15 Mercedes vehicles

Around the turn of the 20th century, automobile manufacturers established representative branch outlets. At the same time, the economic upswing in the German Empire reinforced the trend to have a presence in Berlin. Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) opened the luxuriously appointed “Mercedes Palace” on the boulevard Unter den Linden on 30 September 1913. It had space for 15 Mercedes vehicles, showroom windows faced the boulevard. With a restaurant and cultural events, the retail outlet anticipated the marketing concept of the customer experience. The “Mercedes Palace” became a meeting point for Berlin’s highest society. Benz & Cie. opened its first agency in Berlin as early as 1897, and a sales office in 1901.

1 October 1883 – 140 years ago

Foundation of Benz & Co. Rheinische Gasmotoren-Fabrik

• Pioneering company paving the way to the first automobile
• The success of stationary two-stroke engines made the Benz Patent Motor Car possible
• The first automobiles were built in 1886

On 1 October 1883, Carl Benz, together with businessman Max Caspar Rose and commercial agent Friedrich Wilhelm Esslinger, founded Benz & Co. Rheinische Gasmotoren-Fabrik as a general partnership in Mannheim. Stationary “System Benz” two-stroke engines with an output of 0.74 kW (1 hp) to 8.8 kW (12 hp) were successfully produced as an alternative to the steam engine. Brisk demand made it possible for Carl Benz to realise his dream of a lightweight car powered by a petrol engine. 1885 saw the completion of the first vehicle in which the chassis and engine formed a single unit. The patent for the three-wheeled motor car was granted to Carl Benz on 29 January 1886. It was the world’s first automobile.

1 to 11 October 1998 – 25 years ago

Presentation of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class from the 220 model series in Paris

• Trendsetter in automobile engineering, with 30 technical innovations and 340 patents
• Generous feeling of spaciousness, agile handling, DISTRONIC and COMAND
• The S 600 with a new twelve-cylinder engine followed in 1999

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class from the 220 model series presented at the Paris Motor Show from 1 to 11 October 1998 impressed with its agile, unobtrusive lines. Despite reduced external dimensions and lower weight, it offered the same, generous feeling of spaciousness as the preceding 140 model series. AIRMATIC air suspension and the ADS adaptive damping system contributed to the luxury saloon’s easy handling. 340 patents resulted in 30 technical innovations, some of them used for the first time in a production car – e.g. the optional DISTRONIC proximity control system. The new “Cockpit Management and Data System” (COMAND) made it easier to operate the navigation system, car radio, telephone, CD changer and TV receiver. 484,697 units of the S-Class from the 220 model series were produced up to 2005.

4 to 14 October 1928 – 95 years ago

Premiere of the Mercedes-Benz Nürburg 460 in Paris

• The brand’s first eight-cylinder car as new flagship model
• It took its name from the test drives conducted on the North Loop of the Nürburgring circuit
• The first version by Ferdinand Porsche was superseded one year later

Shortly after the opening of the challenging Nürburgring race circuit in June 1927, Mercedes-Benz presented the Nürburg 460 (W 08) in 1928. The brand’s first eight-cylinder car was given its name because it had been extensively tested over 24,000 kilometres on the North Loop. In early June 1928, head of the test department Willy Walb gave the Board of Management a positive assessment of the engine’s performance over this distance on the Nürburgring, which was 28 kilometres long at the time. The Nürburg 460, designed by Ferdinand Porsche, was presented to the public at the Paris Motor Show from 4 to 14 October 1928. Its in-line eight-cylinder engine developed 59 kW (80 hp) from a displacement of 4.6 litres. Porsche’s successor Hans Nibel already revised the powerful and comfortable Nürburg 460 for the 1929 model year. 2,893 examples of this flagship model were built up to 1933.

19 November 1968 – 55 years ago

Premiere of the “Stroke/eight” Coupé at Hockenheim

• The exclusive coupé in the upper medium class
• The six-cylinder engine in the 250 CE, the top model premiered, developed 110 kW(150 hp)
• The frameless side windows were fully retractable

Mercedes-Benz set a highlight with its upper medium-class coupés in 1968. They were based on the saloon models, which were later to be given the nickname “Stroke/eight”, had the same wheelbase and were identical back to the A-pillar. However the windscreen was more inclined and the roof 45 millimetres lower. The frameless side windows in the front and rear were fully retractable. The elegant two-door models were available exclusively with a six-cylinder engine; they were therefore assigned to the W 114 model series like the corresponding saloons. The four-cylinder saloons were designated the W 115 model series. The company presented the Coupé at Hockenheimring on 19 November 1968. A total of 67,048 units were produced.

23 December 1953 – 70 years ago

The Mercedes-Benz 220 Coupé from the W 187 model series joined the product range

• Exclusive and elegant variant of the model 220
• Produced “at the repeated insistence of certain prominent individuals”
• The beginning of the brand’s luxury-class coupé range

A one-off became the early forerunner of the later luxury-class coupés from Mercedes-Benz. It was built in December 1951 on the basis of the new Mercedes-Benz 220 (W 187). Dr Wilhelm Haspel, Chairman of the Board of Management, had the car built for his wife. Series production was not being considered at the time. However, in mid-September 1953, head of development Karl Wilfert presented the finished design drawings for the elegant two-door model. The coupé went on sale as early as December 1953. This was “at the repeated insistence of certain prominent individuals”, according to a circular issued by sales management. The coupé was technically based on the 220 Cabriolet A with two seats and a curved windscreen. It had an improved M 180 engine developing 63 kW (85 hp). With a retail price of DM 20,850, it was the most expensive and exclusive model in the W 187 model series. 85 examples were produced up to July 1955.

Birthdays

• 90 years ago – Bruno Sacco, 12 November 1933. The Italian born in Udine worked at Mercedes-Benz as a constructor and designer from 1958. As head of the styling department and later as chief designer at Mercedes-Benz, he left his mark on many of the brand’s models until 1999. One of his favourite vehicles was the S-Class Coupé from the 126 model series.
• 90 years ago – Paul Bracq, 13 December 1933. Born in Bordeaux, Bracq had a decisive influence on Mercedes-Benz car design from 1957 to the end of the 1960s. His name is closely associated with the SL from the W 113 model series (“Pagoda”), as well as with the 600 (W 100) and the “Stroke/eight” models from the W 114/115 model series.

After the impressive anniversary celebrating 125 years of Motorsport at Mercedes-Benz last year, the brand continues to celebrate further outstanding racing moments from its history in 2020. The highlights include the triumph of Sauber-Mercedes in the World Sportscar Championship 30 years ago. Mercedes-Benz Classic also congratulates Brand Ambassador Roland Asch, one of the most popular racing drivers in German motorsport, on his 70th birthday in October 2020. Finally, the brand remembers Manfred von Brauchitsch: the racing driver of the first Silver Arrows era was born 125 years ago.

Die Sieger der ADAC GT Masters 2015 auf Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, Sebastian Asch und Luca Ludwig, mit ihren Vätern. Foto auf dem Hockenheimring am 4. Oktober 2015. Von links: Roland Asch, Sebastian Asch, Luca Ludwig, Klaus Ludwig.
The winners of the ADAC GT Masters 2015 in a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, Sebastian Asch and Luca Ludwig, with their fathers. Photo at the Hockenheimring on 4 October 2015. Left to right: Roland Asch, Sebastian Asch, Luca Ludwig, Klaus Ludwig.

30 years ago: Double world championship with the Mercedes-Benz C 11

Successful across the board: In 1990 the Sauber-Mercedes team won in eight out of nine races of the World Sportscar Championship in Group C. Jean-Louis Schlesser and Mauro Baldi won the drivers’ championship in the Mercedes-Benz Group C 11 sports car and became world champions. As in the previous year, Jochen Mass was runner-up. Sauber-Mercedes defended its title in the teams’ championship.

Return of the Silver Arrows: As they had already done in the first championship year with the Sauber-Mercedes C 9 in 1989 the German-Swiss team entered with a racing car painted silver. This return of the Silver Arrows to the circuit was down to the impetus of Professor Werner Niefer, who was the chairman of what was then Mercedes-Benz AG and deputy chairman of Daimler-Benz AG. It was on his initiative that the original dark blue racing cars were painted silver – just like their successful predecessors that had written racing history up until 1955.

Innovative technology: The C 11 is the logical progression of the successful C 9, which won the legendary 24-hour race in Le Mans in 1989. The Silver Arrow was also built at Sauber in Hinwil (Switzerland) under the management of head designer Leo Ress. It was the first time a carbon fibre chassis was used, which contributed towards the minimal kerb weight of 870 kilograms and also offered a high level of rigidity. The Mercedes-Benz engineers around Dr Hermann Hiereth optimised the Mercedes-Benz M 119 engine. The V8 turbo engine with four-valve-per-cylinder design had 4973 cubic centimetres of displacement and during the qualifying tuning generated up to 680 kW (924 hp) in the racing car. In normal racing conditions and with continuous stress it was 537 kW (730 hp). The drivers were inspired – they praised the drivability of the deep-rumbling eight-cylinder engine and the well-tempered handling of the C 11.

The Mercedes kids: For the 1990 World Sportscar Championship, Mercedes-Benz race director Jochen Neerpasch wanted the experienced drivers Jean-Louis Schlesser, Mauro Baldi and Jochen Mass to be accompanied by highly promising young drivers. The top three of the German Formula 3 Championship were chosen: Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Michael Schumacher and Karl Wendlinger. The youngsters were already impressing at the first test drives in Le Castellet at the end of 1989. Peter Sauber summed it up: “Frentzen was the fastest, Schumacher was hardly any slower, drove very consistently and was very interested in the technology even then. Wendlinger was the most cautious and really didn’t want to break anything.”

Successful races: In the 1990 seasons the three junior drivers started as partners with Jochen Mass. The pairings of Mass / Wendlinger and Mass / Schumacher each won a world championship race. All three young drivers had great careers ahead of them. Michael Schumacher won the Formula 1 World Championship seven times. Heinz-Harald Frentzen won three Grand Prix races and was the Formula 1 World Championship runner-up in 1997. Karl Wendlinger had his Formula 1 debut in 1993 with Sauber in Kyalami and today is an AMG Brand Ambassador and instructor at the AMG Driving Academy.

70th birthday of Roland Asch

Once a racing driver, always a racing driver: Roland Asch was also a success with the Star. On 12 October 2020 he will celebrate his 70th birthday. The “Schwabenpfeil” (Swabian Arrow), as his fans liked to call him, never officially ended his career as a racing driver. Together with his son, Sebastian, he even took part in the 2018 24-hour race in Dubai and only narrowly missed out on a class victory with a Mercedes-Benz AMG GT4.

DTM legend: “My best year in racing was 1988. We achieved a lot with only a little money: runners-up in the DTM!” says Roland Asch, enthused to this day. The Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.3-16 for that season was bought by the owner of a Ford dealership in Ammerbuch-Altingen near Tübingen, financed from their own resources. Friends supported him at the racetrack, and on some days after work the Mercedes-Benz engineers worked on preparations for the “16-valver”.

Test driver for Mercedes-Benz: Gerhard Lepler, head of internal development of racing touring cars, signed the highly promising racing driver Roland Asch as a test driver. Important experiences were gained, particularly at the racetrack in Rijeka (Yugoslavia), from which Asch also benefited for the use of his own DTM touring car. In 1988, with 242 points, he was runner-up behind Klaus Ludwig (Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth, 258 points) and won the championship title in the Porsche 944 Turbo Cup.

Works driver in the DTM: For the 1989 to 1994 seasons Roland Asch was the DTM works driver of Mercedes-Benz. In the Mass-Schons team he won the first race of a Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution I in Mainz-Finthen. In 1990 he switched to the team of Dany Snobeck, which lead the way for Mercedes-Benz in touring car racing in the mid 1980s by taking part in the French production car championship. In 1991 and 1992 Asch competed for the Zakspeed team. He took part in the season finale in Kyalami, South Africa, with a 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II works racing car with a “camel” paint finish. This was made special by the fact that, for the first time, a racing car had an anti-lock braking system (ABS) developed especially for racing. Asch won one of the two races with this vehicle as well as the overall ranking. In 1993 and 1994 Roland Asch became team colleague of Bernd Schneider in the AMG team. In both years he finished ahead of the later record DTM champion. In 1993, in the final year of the 201 model series in the DTM as a 190 E class 1, Asch finished as runner-up for the second time behind Nicola Larini (Alfa Romeo).

Brand Ambassador: For many years, father of three Roland Asch has been a Brand Ambassador. “When Mercedes-Benz Classic calls me up and asks that I test an old racing car, I’m right there,” says Asch. He drives a broad range of racing cars from the Sauber-Mercedes in Group C to the Silver Arrows of the 1930s and takes part in events such as the 1000 Miglia and the Goodwood Festival of Speed. And, of course, he is always happy to sit behind the wheel in a Mercedes-Benz racing touring car from his DTM era. “I have always felt particularly happy in the ‘16-valver’,” he says. Logically, his private collection of classic cars also includes a Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II from the homologation production of just 502 vehicles.

Manfred von Brauchitsch was born 125 years ago

Breakthrough with the SSKL: On 15 August 1905 Manfred von Brauchitsch, later to become a racing driver, was born in Hamburg. Initially he wanted to become an officer, but after a serious motorbike accident he was discharged as unfit for service by the army in 1927. In 1929 he began motor racing. His breakthrough followed in 1932 when with the Mercedes-Benz SSKL, featuring a pioneering streamlined body, he won the international Avus race in Berlin and even beat the great Rudolf Caracciola. This spectacular success provided the nobleman with a contract as a Mercedes-Benz works driver for the 1934 season.

Silver Arrow: In 2019, in the “125 years of Motorsport” anniversary year, Mercedes-Benz Classic rebuilt the SSKL streamlined racing car and assembled it with great authenticity to ensure it could be experienced – also on the track. Body, chassis and engine were produced as close to the original as possible in the complex project.

Master of many hundreds of horsepower: Manfred von Brauchitsch won many major races. In 1934 he won the international Eifelrennen race at Nürburgring on the race debut of the Mercedes-Benz W 25 and was victorious in both the 1937 Monaco (W 125) and 1938 French (W 154) Grands Prix. His driving style was spectacular, paying little attention to the state of the vehicle. Tyre damage and even accidents led to many failures or defeats. He was dogged by an image of notorious bad luck. Decades later the racing driver explained his motivation: “Of course it is nice to win. But it is glorious to sit in such a racing car, to command this complex machine and to be master of many hundreds of horsepower.”

Bon vivant: After the Second World War Manfred von Brauchitsch tried to make a comeback in motorsport, but he failed. In 1954, with the emphatic support of the government of the GDR, he emigrated to East Berlin where he found new popularity as a highly regarded peace activist and sports official. When it came to his somewhat unconventional life, he described himself as a “bon vivant”. His contact to Mercedes-Benz never fully broke off: for instance, in 1974 he was invited to attend the French Grand Prix as a guest, driving a demonstration lap at 280 km/h in the Mercedes-Benz W 154 dating back to 1939. In 1995, Manfred von Brauchitsch celebrated his 90th birthday at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. He died at the age of 97 on 5 February 2003 in Gräfenwart, Schleiz.

His very last era was once again nothing shy of success as Gottlieb Daimler invented the high-speed petrol engine in 1883/1884. In 1885, he utilised the new powertrain in the “Reitwagen” (riding car) – the world’s first motorised two-wheeler. And in 1886, he turned a horse-drawn carriage into the first four-wheeled automobile with his engine. Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) was founded in Cannstatt in 1890, and in the space of just ten years, it became the world’s leading manufacturer of luxury cars. In April 1900, the products were given the legendary name “Mercedes” – Gottlieb Daimler, sadly, was not around to witness this as he died of a heart condition on 6 March 1900. His last twenty years were well spent, however, during which time he achieved many great things together with engineer Wilhelm Maybach. One very significant innovation was the high-speed petrol engine in 1886, which ultimately made the Daimler name synonymous with inventing the automobile. Carl Benz, meanwhile, was also busy at this time presenting his patent motor car.

Gottlieb Daimler

From top manager to start-up founder

Gottlieb Daimler was 48 years old when he set up his experimental workshop in the greenhouse of his villa in Cannstatt, and started working on the high-speed, four-stroke engine in the summer of 1882. At this time, he had already made a name for himself as he could look back on a successful career as an engineer and manager. His most recent position was as technical director and board member of Gasmotoren-Fabrik Deutz AG. The son of a baker, Gottlieb was born on 17 March 1834 in Schorndorf, Germany and later enjoyed an excellent technical education, including earning a degree in mechanical engineering, which he used as a solid starting point to build his career. The inventor was also very cosmopolitan as he sought to gain valuable practical experience in France and Great Britain at a young age. During his time working for Deutz, he also visited Russia, attended the World Exhibitions in Paris and Chicago in 1889 and 1893, respectively, and corresponded with his French business partner Louise Sarazin in her native language.

After leaving Gasmotoren-Fabrik Deutz in late 1881, the then top manager could have easily taken another well-paid management position elsewhere. Instead, he took a bold risk to become an entrepreneur himself and founded what would now be called a “disruptive” start-up: his goal was nothing less than to revolutionise mobility on land, water and in the air. To this end, a powerful and lightweight yet reliable engine was the key. Carl Benz was also pursuing a visionary approach but, unlike Daimler, did not focus on developing a universal engine as he instead had his eyes set on achieving widespread mobility with the automobile. The general public was initially sceptical to these ideas and often rejected them.

Today, we know that, against all odds, both inventors turned their dreams into a reality. Carl Benz witnessed the merger of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft with Benz & Cie. in 1926, which gave rise to Daimler-Benz AG – a company that later became a global player, whose exceptional products were based on the fundamental ideas put forth by both inventors. Benz was also around to see the triumph of the internal combustion engine as it made global mobility a reality with vehicles, ships and planes criss-crossing the planet. Carl Benz died on 4 April 1929.

Daimler AG, meanwhile, continues down the path of its founding fathers by shaping the future of mobility, leveraging the company’s idealist heritage. To this end, Daimler AG actively pursues the CASE (Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Electric) strategy with its centrally linked topics. The challenges currently being faced are reminiscent of the goals Daimler and Benz successfully achieved back in 1886, when they ushered in a new form of mobility. “We are in the midst of tackling far-reaching changes as the automotive industry undergoes a massive transformation,” affirmed Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management. With the Mercedes-Benz VISION EQS, the brand shows a car concept to provide a glimpse of what sustainable luxury can look like in the future.

For 40 years the Mercedes-Benz G-Class has been the measure of all things in the off-road-vehicle segment, and for 20 years as an AMG model, too, with an extra portion of performance. This makes it by far the longest-standing passenger car model series built in Mercedes-Benz history and thus the forefather of all SUVs with the three-pointed star.

Mercedes-Benz G 350 d; brilliant blue;Fuel consumption combined: 9,8-9,6 l/100 km; CO2-Emissionen kombiniert: 259–252 g/km*

Milestones in G-Class history

1979

The first G-Models are presented to the press. Production start-up of the 240 GD, 300 GD, 230 G and 280 GE.

1980

During his visit to Germany in November 1980, Pope John Paul II is for the first time chauffeured in a “Popemobile” based on the 230 G.

1981

Optional equipment available for the cabriolet now includes air conditioning, side-facing bench seats and a hard top. There is a choice of 22 colours.

1983

In the Paris-Dakar Rally, Jacky Ickx and Claude Brasseur are first across the finishing line in a 280 GE.

1985

The “G” is significantly upgraded by a model facelift. Standard equipment now also includes differential locks, central locking and a rev counter.

1987

Further facelift with power window lifts, an automatic antenna and a larger tank.

1989

Launch of the 463 series with superior equipment and four engine variants: 250 GD, 300 GD, 230 GE and 300 GE. There is a choice of three body versions: Convertible, short-wheelbase Station Wagon long-wheelbase Station Wagon long.

1993

The 500 GE appears as the first V8 model of the off-roader. The 5-litre light-alloy engine of the limited special model develops 177 kW/240 hp. from September the G-Models are officially known as the G-Class. The model designations are G 230, G 300, G 350 TURBODIESEL etc.

1994

Second facelift for the 463 series, with internally ventilated front disc brakes and a driver airbag.

1996

The G 300 TURBODIESEL with an inline six-cylinder engine (130 kW/177 hp) is launched.

1997

The G-Class Cabriolet makes its debut in a new variant with an electrohydraulic soft top.

1998

The G 500 with a V8 engine (218 kW/296 hp) is added to the regular model range.

1999

With the G 55 AMG, an AMG variant is part of the official sales portfolio of the
G-Class for the first time.

2001

The G-Class is given a considerably upgraded interior as part of a model facelift. The extended standard equipment now including new dynamic control systems is presented at the International Motor Show (IAA) in September. These include ESP^®, Braking Assist BAS and the new electronic traction system ETS.

2002

The G 63 AMG is the first G-Class with a twelve-cylinder engine.

2004

World premiere of the new G 55 AMG with a supercharged V8 engine. The most powerful G-Class to date has an output of 350 kW (476 hp).

2006

Bi-xenon headlamps with a cornering light are featured in the G-Class as standard. The G 320 CDI replaces the previous diesel models G 270 CDI and G 400 CDI.

2007

Further updating: the G-Class is given a new instrument cluster with four analogue dial instruments.

2008

Introduction of the new 5.5-litre V8 engine with 285 kW (388 hp). Modified radiator grille with three louvres.

2012

Completely redesigned dashboard and centre console, with the modern infotainment system COMAND Online on board as standard. The Group’s subsidiary from Affalterbach sends the G 65 AMG into the running, powered by a 6.0-litre twelve-cylinder engine with a carbon-fibre/aluminium cover. With torque of 1000 newton metres, the G 65 AMG is the world’s most powerful series production off-road vehicle; its top speed has to be electronically limited to 230 km/h. The G 63 AMG is also launched with a 5.5-litre V8 biturbo.

2013

The three-axled G 63 AMG 6×6 demonstrates superior off-road capabilities.

2015

For the first time the designo individualisation range offers exclusive, unique colour and material compositions both inside and out. In addition, the new
G 500 4×4² with portal axles enters series production.

2017

With its superlative V12 engine, portal axles, electric fabric top and exclusive equipment specification in the rear compartment, this Mercedes-Maybach G 650 Landaulet, which is limited to 99 units, meets the expectations of customers who demand the very highest standards of their vehicle.

2018

The new G-Class celebrates its premiere at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. With its unmistakeably edge exterior and fundamentally restyled interior it sets technological standards yet again. On-road the G-Class reinvents itself – with modern assistance systems, outstanding handling and optimum safety. Off-road it surpasses itself: the new suspension, the DYNAMIC SELECT drive programs, the “G-Mode” and the three 100-percent differential locks enhance performance, ride comfort and agility – on any surface.

2019

The G-Class turns 40, the AMG variant celebrates its 20th birthday this year. Mercedes celebrates its off-road icon with three special models. Thanks to the new individualisation range G manufaktur, customers can turn the G-Class into their own personal G. Around 15 kilometres south of Graz the G-Class Experience Centre opens: on the site of over 100,000 m² customers and fans can drive the G-Class for themselves in extreme conditions on two off-road sections, the G-Rock with various approach ramps and an on-road area.

Be it 24 hours or 1,000 miles: races over particularly long distances are an extreme challenge in motorsport. After all, the performance of the competition vehicles is just as decisive here as their reliability under constant maximum stress.

Mercedes-Benz has been impressive in these areas since the beginning of the motorsport history of the brand. One of the first highlights was the Paris – Bordeaux – Paris road race, which was carried out from 11 to 14 June 1895 over a distance of 1,192 kilometres. Of the first eight vehicles to finish, there were six cars equipped with engines according to a Daimler licence and two Benz vehicles.

Sauber-Mercedes C 9 Group C racing car, Le Mans 24-hour race, 1989. With starting number 63, the winning vehicle of Jochen Mass/Manuel Reuter/Stanley Dickens. With starting number 62, the team of Jean-Louis Schlesser/Jean-Pierre Jabouille/Alain Cudini, which ended in fifth place. Photo from 1989.

In the tradition of the great European road races, in the mid-20th century, the Italian Mille Miglia stands out in particular. Mercedes-Benz was twice able to attain outstanding victories there. In 1931, Rudolf Caracciola and co-driver Wilhelm Sebastian in the Mercedes-Benz SKKL were the first to take overall victory as drivers not from Italy. In 1955, the masterpiece of the British team of Stirling Moss/Denis Jenkinson in the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR (W 196 S) racing car followed: Moss with the best time ever achieved at a Mille Miglia, ahead of team colleague Juan Manuel Fangio.

In 1957, the Mille Miglia was carried out as a classic road race for the last time. Mercedes-Benz, however, also continued to be very successful in such long-distance competitions outside of Europe in the following years. For example, the Argentine Touring Car Grand Prix, a strenuous race over almost 5,000 kilometres, was won by the brand from Stuttgart four times in a row with saloons of the W 111/112 model series: 1961 (one-two win), 1962 (win by Ewy Rosqvist/Ursula Wirth), 1963 (quadruple win) and 1964 (triple win).

Endurance races

The return of Mercedes-Benz to racing after the end of the Second World War was also connected to the Mille Miglia: the new 300 SL (W 194) racing car premiered on the Brescia to Rome and back endurance classic on 3 to 4 May 1952. Karl Kling and Hans Klenk came flying in with a respectable second place in the overall standings.

The 300 SL celebrated one of its greatest triumphs in an endurance race on the racetrack: Mercedes-Benz attained a one-two win at the Le Mans 24-hour race from 13 to 14 June 1952. The overall standings were led by Hermann Lang and Fritz Rieß ahead of their team colleagues Theo Helfrich and Helmut Niedermayr. Three years later in 1955, Mercedes-Benz was in the lead at Le Mans with its 300 SLR racing car. After the very tragic accident involving the Silver Arrow of Pierre Levegh, for which nobody was at fault, Mercedes-Benz withdrew its remaining vehicles out of respect for the victims of the accident.

Thirty years ago, the Silver Arrows once again won in Le Mans: the Sauber-Mercedes C 9 Group C racing car attained a one-two win at the 24-hour race from 10 to 11 June 1989. The teams of Jochen Mass/Stanley Dickens/Manuel Reuter as well as Mauro Baldi/Kenny Acheson/Gianfranco Brancatelli led the overall standings. This was a highlight of the return of Mercedes-Benz to racing on a racetrack.

Thirty years ago, Jean Louis Schlesser won the World Sportscar Championship in the Sauber-Mercedes C 9. The team title of the World Championship went to Sauber-Mercedes in 1989. Both title wins were repeated the following year with the Sauber-Mercedes C 11.

Successes in customer sport

Fascinating sports car races inspired the fans of the FIA GT Championship at the end of the 1990s. Mercedes-Benz dominated the first two years of this international racing series with the Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR (1997, championship title for Bernd Schneider) and CLK-LM (1998, championship title for Klaus Ludwig and Ricardo Zonta) GT racing cars.

Modern day successes with the sign of the Mercedes star by the Mercedes-AMG customer sport teams are reminiscent of those triumphs. Amongst others, the BLACK FALCON team has already won the Dubai 24-hour race four times (2012, 2013, 2015, 2018). Maro Engel won in 2015 at the first FIA GT World Cup in Macau in the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3; Edoardo Mortara won in the same race in 2017 in the Mercedes-AMG GT3. The 2016 ADAC Zurich Nürburgring 24-hour race was completed by the Mercedes-AMG GT3 with an incomparable quadruple victory. Since 2018, alongside the GT3 racing cars, the near-production Mercedes-AMG GT4 customer sport racing cars have been used. With over 130 wins and more than 40 titles, the past year was the most successful season of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing to date.

In every win and in every championship, there is the desire for competition – this is the theme for 125 years of motorsport with Mercedes-Benz.

In a time when “car” was not even a word yet, and people relied on horses to pull their wagons, one woman challenged the status quo. To prove to the world that her husband’s invention was the future of mobility, Bertha Benz went on the first long-distance journey with an automobile, facing all kinds of challenges but stopping at nothing. The rest, as they say, is history.

“Bertha Benz: “the journey that changed everything”

Birth of a legend: Mercedes-Benz entered uncharted territory in 1979 with the G-model. The off-road vehicle was designed on the one hand as a means of transport with extreme off-road capabilities and an emphasis on leisure, and on the other for tough everyday use, for example, in the industrial or municipal sector. A continuous advancement process began shortly after its market launch. That is the key to the lasting success of the G-Class.

Mercedes-Benz G-Class from model series 463, “EDITION30” special model based on the G 500. Photograph from the press release dated 2009.

Genes of the G: The line of tradition is as straightforward as the design: the G-Class has always remained true to itself and its values since 1979. This is also demonstrated by the new generation of the G-Class (fuel consumption, combined: 13.1-9.6 l/100 km; combined CO₂ emissions: 299-252 g/km*), which celebrated its premiere in January 2018: It is clearly recognisable as a direct descendant of the first G model. The G-Class has always preserved this unique DNA. And you can feel it in all SUVs of the brand with the three-pointed star.

Mercedes-Benz “G” model from model series 460. Photograph from 1979. There were four engines, two wheelbases and five different body versions available at market launch.

Clear development target: “Integrating extreme off-road capabilities with outstanding on-road characteristics in one vehicle was the main job of the Daimler-Benz development engineers when the Stuttgart-based automotive company […] made the final decision to build an off-road vehicle”. That is what Mercedes-Benz wrote in the press kit for the premiere of the G-model in February 1979.

Fruitful decisions: In 1990, the 463 model series was launched, which featured a revised and refined interior plus permanent all-wheel drive instead of the on-demand all-wheel drive used up until then. Subsequently, eight-cylinder and even twelve-cylinder engines were used in the powerful and luxurious G-Class. They were the basis for the major international market success, which the latest generation continues from 2018.

Popular world citizen: At the premiere in 1979, the planners assumed there would be no more than 10,000 vehicles of the G-model per year. Today, some 20,000 of them come off the production line in Graz each year. In its fourth decade, the G-Class is more popular than ever with customers all over the world. This all-terrain classic is ideally situated for the demands of the future with the new 463 model series G-Class, production of which begins at Magna Steyr in Graz in May 2018. To mark the start of production, Ola Källenius, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG with responsibility for Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development, commented: “The new G-Class raises the bar one notch higher in all the relevant areas – with regard to performance on and off the road as well as in terms of comfort and telematics. Our ‘longest serving’ model series is thus superbly prepared to continue to perpetuate its success story. To put it in a nutshell: the new ‘G’ is still a ‘G’, only better”.

From the mine to the summit: Off the road, the G-model treads nearly every path. Scaling a mountain summit is already part of the development programme of the off-road vehicle with the legendary test track of Steyr-Daimler-Puch on the Schöckl, the local mountain of Graz. Even special versions of the G for underground mining were eventually built.

Mercedes-Benz “G” model from model series 460, open vehicle. Photograph from 1979.

G factor: The Mercedes-Benz G is an icon. The design, the optimal handling in terrain and on the road, the outstanding versatility and of course the Mercedes star on the radiator grille make it unmistakable today. However, until 1999 up to ten percent of the production output was sold in certain countries under the Puch brand.

Horse power: The G-Class is available with plenty of horse power. However, during the development phase the G had the name of a horse breed as a code name: the abbreviation “H II” referred to the robust and undemanding Haflinger, the mountain horse of South Tyrol, after which Puch had already named a successful off-road vehicle before.

All-wheel icon: The capabilities of the all-wheel drive of the G-Class come to the fore in particular impressive fashion off the road. As a result, the off-road vehicle follows a long tradition, which began with the Dernburg-Wagen of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) in 1907. In the second half of the 20th century, it was the Mercedes-Benz Unimog that first set standards in off-road terrain. Thanks to portal axles, this all-wheel jack of all trades has a particularly large ground clearance. This technology also benefits a number of special models of the G-Class, namely the G 63 AMG 6×6 (2013), the G 500 4×4² (2015) and the Mercedes-Maybach G 650 Landaulet (2017).

Luxury and performance: The story of the G is also the story of a transformation from an adequately powered climbing artiste with rather austere interior into a luxuriously appointed off-road vehicle with respectable power reserves. The 500 GE as the first G-Class with an eight-cylinder engine set the tone in this regard in 1993. It was followed by the top-of-the-range models the G 500 (1998), G 55 AMG (1999) and other AMG versions of the G-Class. An absolute highlight was the premiere of the G 65 AMG in 2012. Its V12 engine had an output of 450 kW(612 hp) and produced 1000 Newton metres of torque.

Technology without compromises: From the start, the developers relied on optimal technical solutions to combine maximum off-road capabilities and refined ride quality on the road. At the same time, the technical design of the vehicle was being advanced continuously. The three differential locks became standard equipment in 1985, the 463 model series with permanent all-wheel drive was launched in 1990, and a unique combination of driving dynamics and traction system became available in 2001. The new generation of the G-Class debuted a front axle with independent suspension as a first in January 2018 – while the off-road capabilities improved once again.

Racer and rescuer: The G cuts a great figure not only in tough everyday use and as a luxurious off-road vehicle. Its magic moments also included the overall victory in the 1983 Paris–Dakar Rally, as well as many successful missions in fire brigade, rescue and police services. Especially in the early days, municipal services and users with similar needs relied on the G-Class. Today, they also have other vehicles at their disposal – such as the versatile Mercedes-Benz X-Class (combined cycle fuel consumption: 9.0–7.3 l/100 km; combined CO₂ emissions: 236–192 g/km*).

Holy Father: Among the most famous G-models in general are the Vatican’s popemobiles. The first vehicle based on the G was built in 1980 out of a 230 G. Painted white and sporting the hallmark Plexiglas dome over the rear compartment, this G went down in history as the “Papamobile”.

It was the document that set the world in motion: on January 29, 1886, Carl Benz applied for a patent on his “gas-powered vehicle”. This was the day the automobile was born. Later the same year, independently of Benz, Gottlieb Daimler built his motorised carriage. Thus it was that 1886 marked the beginning of the so far 130-year-long success story of Mercedes-Benz.

Stuttgart. The birth certificate of the automobile bears the number DRP 37435. For that was the reference under which the patent on a “gas-powered vehicle” filed by the Mannheim engineer Carl Benz on 29 January 1886 was registered with the German Imperial Patent Office in Berlin. The 130-year-old document is testimony to Carl Benz’s innovative spirit, creative power and entrepreneurial vision. Since 2011, the patent document has been part of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme, which also includes the Gutenberg Bible, the Magna Carta and Johann Sebastian Bach’s Mass in B Minor.

How it all began

Carl Benz developed the world’s first automobile in 1885. To do this, he installed a high-speed one-cylinder four-stroke engine (954 cc displacement running at 400 rpm with 0.55 kW/0.75 hp output) horizontally in a specially designed chassis. The top speed was 16 km/h. This three-wheeled patent motor car was an absolute world first: a totally self-contained, self-propelled vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine.

The patent motor car made its first public appearance on July 3, 1886 on Ringstrasse in Mannheim. Yet it was the long-distance journey from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back in 1888 in the improved Model III patent motor car that was to fully demonstrate the automobile’s suitability for everyday use.

That journey was undertaken not by Carl Benz himself, but by his wife, Bertha. In a show of utmost confidence in her husband’s invention, which had been filed with the Patent Office on 29 January 1886, Bertha Benz was accompanied by her sons Eugen and Richard – entirely unbeknown to the inventor – as she took to the wheel on this first long-distance journey in the history of the automobile in August 1888. Bertha and her sons thus proved how well the concept of a motor vehicle worked at the technical level. At the same time, they gave a practical demonstration of the today still typical application of a passenger car. This was set out by Carl Benz in his patent application when he referred to the “operation of mainly light carriages for the conveyance of one to four passengers”.

In 1886, the pioneering inventions of Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler brought a revolutionary, new dimension to mobility. For the past 130 years, the innovations presented by Mercedes-Benz have built on that accomplishment: in the interests of safety, comfort, efficiency and confidence. With present-day developments in areas such as autonomous driving, intelligently connected vehicles and electric mobility, Mercedes-Benz is introducing the future of the automobile. It was a visionary path on which Carl Benz set out on 29 January 1886 when he applied for a patent on his motor car.

Together with Gottlieb Daimler’s motorised carriage, which was developed likewise in 1886, Carl Benz’s patent motor car is the first exhibit on view to visitors as they begin their tour of the Mercedes-Benz Museum. The Museum celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2016, having to date attracted over seven million visitors.

Benz patent motor car from 1886 (replica). On 29 January 1886, Carl Benz applied for a patent on his “gas-powered vehicle”.

Carl Benz in his first Model I patent motor car from 1886, taken in Munich in 1925.

On 29 January 1886, Carl Benz applied for a patent on his “gas-powered vehicle” (drawings of the design from the patent document).

Launched in 1990, 25 years ago, the Mercedes-Benz 500 E with V8 engine and subtly muscular body is the top-of-the-range model in the 124 model series – and has long been one of the brand’s most desirable ‘young classic’ models.

Mercedes-Benz 500 E Limited

A modest appearance, at first glance – this is one side of the Mercedes-Benz 500 E. Only the somewhat more voluminous wings, the slightly lower body and a modified front apron with inset fog lamps differentiate it from the other models in the 124 series. But then there’s the engine: eight cylinders in a ‘V’ configuration, a displacement of 5 litres, 326 hp (240 kW) of power. All of which makes this saloon something of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It takes just 6.1 seconds for the sprint from 0 to 100 km/h, while the top speed is electronically limited to 250 km/h – performance figures worthy of a sports car.

The combination of all these ingredients and characteristics creates the allure that the 500 E has exuded since the moment of its first appearance at the Paris motor show in October 1990. You can still feel it today. Indeed, this powerful saloon has long been one of the most highly sought-after young classic cars bearing the three-pointed star. Just 10,479 units were built in the years until 1995 – a figure that also includes the E 60 AMG, with which it is counted in the production statistics. The first 500 E cost 134,520 deutschmarks – more than twice as much as a 300 E, a car which itself could not exactly be called unspectacular. By the end the price was 145,590 deutschmarks for an E 500, as it was designated from 1993 onwards. So it is perhaps hardly surprising that there are very few well-preserved 500 E/E 500 models still around. But anyone who does buy one, will find they have an exceptional and powerful saloon that is nevertheless extremely practical for everyday use.

Mercedes-Benz 500 E Limited

The engine and four-speed automatic transmission were taken from the 500 SL, but the 500 E did incorporate several other new features: it was the first car to feature what was known as the “standard deck” engine – one and the same crankcase used for both the 4.2 and the 5.0-litre unit. This meant that the 5.0-litre engine was 16.5 millimetres lower here than when it made its debut in the 500 SL (R 129) a year and a half earlier. Shorter connecting rods ensured that the bore-stroke ratio remained the same. In addition, in the E 500 the Bosch LH-Jetronic injection system, with electronic control and air-mass sensor, replaced the previously used mechanical/electronic KE system. From October 1992 the engine output was lowered slightly to 320 hp (235 kW), in order to reduce both fuel consumption and pollutant emissions. Compared with the 500 SL, the 500 E had a shorter axle ratio (1:2.82), so benefiting acceleration. The top speed of both models was electronically limited to 250 km/h.

Mercedes-Benz 500 E Limited

Small-series production at Porsche

The 500 E, incidentally, was created in close cooperation with Porsche: also based in Stuttgart, the sports car manufacturer was brought on board by Mercedes-Benz at a very early stage in order to boost the company’s own somewhat stretched development capacity. The manufacturing process was subsequently split: the bodyshell was painted at the Mercedes-Benz Sindelfingen plant, while the final assembly of the components supplied from Sindelfingen and Untertürkheim was undertaken by Porsche in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. There were two reasons for this. First of all, the production order came as a timely stroke of good fortune during what was a somewhat difficult period for the sports car manufacturer in the early 1990s. And secondly, the relatively small volume was an ideal match for the manufacturing processes at Porsche, meaning that production of the 500 E could not have been in better hands.

The powerful saloon benefited from the last facelift of the W 124 model series in 1993. The first change related to the name: the mid-series was renamed E-Class and, as with the other model series, the model designation now preceded the figures and the “E” for injection engine (“Einspritzer” in German) was omitted, making the 500 E the E 500. The design idiom of the exterior design was updated – with one of its revised features being the radiator grille, which from that point on was framed by and integrated into the bonnet. In the case of the saloon models, there was also a redesign of the rear end. The boot lid and the wings were given edges with a wider radius, while the area around the number plate was also modified.

Mercedes-Benz 500 E Limited

The equipment and appointments of the 500 E/E 500 lived up to its positioning as the top-of-the-range model in this series in that they were extremely extensive. In view of the car’s extraordinary power, standard equipment such as acceleration skid control (ASR) was a necessity rather than mere technical gimmickry.

We should at this point also mention the 400 E/E 420, launched two years after the 500 E in October 1992. This car, too, had a powerful eight-cylinder engine under its 124-series body. This model may not have been designed as a sports saloon but instead as a car for effortless long-distance motoring, but when it came to inconspicuously packaged power it outrivalled the 500 E, since it did not even feature the discreetly flared wheel arches of the sports saloon.

Mercedes-Benz 500 E Limited

Production of the E 500 was discontinued in April 1995. The 210 model series was already waiting in the wings to succeed the 124 series and was launched in June 1995. There were quite a few customers who regretted not having bought an E 500. Demand for a sports saloon of this kind remains to this day, so a particularly powerful model has been part and parcel of virtually all Mercedes-Benz model series ever since – often created in collaboration with cooperation partner AMG, which became the subsidiary company Mercedes-AMG GmbH in early 1999. The International Motor Show in Frankfurt (IAA) in September 1995 thus marked the debut of the E 50 AMG as the successor to the 500 E.

Welcome to a distinguished circle: this year the first vehicles in the Mercedes-Benz model series 124 will receive the coveted H registration plate, signifying that they have achieved the status of young classics. This model series displayed various body shapes and numerous innovations, and proved a winner with customers worldwide: a total of more than 2.7 million units were produced between 1984 and 1997.

Mercedes-Benz limousine of the 124 series, long version.

The keenly anticipated new saloon in the upper medium class celebrated its premiere in November 1984. The new model series 124 was launched with the models 200 D, 250 D, 300 D, 200, 230 E, 260 E, and 300 E. The 200 E was also produced for the Italian export market. Mercedes-Benz still followed its classic model designation pattern when the series had its debut in 1984, but in 1993 the medium model series was given the name E-Class. The front and rear axle designs already familiar from the compact W 201 series (“Baby Benz”) presented in 1982 ensured outstanding handling characteristics and a high level of active safety. They feature individual wishbone control arms at the front and a multi-link independent suspension at the rear.

Visually and technically the medium model series took its lead from the compact W 201, with clear, sporty lines and body panels of high-strength steel, but set new standards in terms of technology, comfort, and design. The exterior design was created by Joseph Gallitzendörfer and Peter Pfeiffer in the team led by the head of design, Bruno Sacco.

Using systematic lightweight construction methods, the body had new styling features based on practical considerations. Two typical design features are the trapezoidal boot lid drawn well down into the rear end and the slanted inner edges of the tail lights. This allowed a particularly low loading sill for the large boot. Another characteristic feature was the rear end, which tapered towards the rear and was heavily rounded at the upper side edges, contributing to an especially low drag coefficient. On market launch, the cd value was 0.29 to 0.30 depending on the model – a sensation at the time. Later models even achieved cd values as low as 0.26. The aerodynamic improvements also considerably lowered fuel consumption compared to the preceding series.

One less conspicuous but innovative design detail was the eccentric-sweep panoramic windscreen wiper. It swept 86 per cent of the windscreen – at the time the largest swept area of any passenger car in the world. Thanks to linear travel added to the rotational movement, the upper corners of the windscreen could be wiped clear more efficiently than by a conventional single-arm wiper. Electrically heated windscreen washer nozzles were standard equipment for all models in the series.

New variety: body shapes and 4MATIC all-wheel drive

The history of the model series 124 is characterised by an unprecedented variety of models and innovations. The start of this new body design diversity was marked by the presentation of the Estate model at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt in September 1985. In technical and styling terms, this second generation of the sporty lifestyle Estate from Mercedes-Benz was substantially identical to the Saloon – apart from the different rear end structure. In the Estate, however, the multi-link independent rear suspension already featured hydropneumatic level control as standard. In addition, as part of the “Mercedes-Benz driving dynamics concept”, the company presented the automatically engaged 4MATIC all-wheel drive system with the Estate. The all-wheel drive system was available for the six-cylinder models in the model series 124.

In 1987, Mercedes-Benz expanded the model range even further: The first addition was the Coupé as the third body variant, which had its debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March and was given an 8.5 cm shorter wheelbase than the Saloon. This underlined the sporty character of the two-door model, and made it a completely distinctive body design variant in both its form and design. Features in common with the Saloon were restricted to the front section and tail lights.

1989: first facelift for the medium class, and a long-wheelbase version

At the IAA Show in Frankfurt on the Main in September 1989, Mercedes-Benz presented a completely revised model range in the medium class. The main aspects of this facelift were restyling of the body and a redesign of the interior. The most distinctive feature of the facelifted models was the protective cladding on the sides with integrated sill panelling, which had already been premiered in the Coupé models two and a half years before and was affectionately-cum-disrespectfully dubbed “Sacco boards” by enthusiasts.

The fourth body variant to be presented in Frankfurt was a Saloon with an extended wheelbase. After a gap of four years, a long version was therefore now available in the model range once again. The long body was developed in close collaboration with the company Binz in Lorch, which also became responsible for the bodyshell production. The wheelbase was increased by 80 centimetres to 3.60 metres, with the overall length increasing by the same. In contrast to their predecessors, the 250 D long and 260 E long models had six doors and a fully-fledged centre seat unit whose cushion depth and backrest height were almost identical to those of the rear seat unit.

In October 1990, the 500 E was in the limelight at the Paris Motor Show as the new top model. It was the first model in the medium model series to be powered by a V8 engine. Externally this high-performance saloon was only distinguishable from its sister models at second glance. However its inner values were all the more impressive: the 500 E was powered by a 240 kW (326 hp) five-litre, four-valve V8 engine based on the well-proven technology of the power unit in the 500 SL, and delivered breathtaking performance figures. It was capable of sprinting from zero to 100 km/h in 5.9 seconds. The top speed was electronically limited to 250 km/h. The characteristic features of the 500 E included discreetly flared wings, fog lamps integrated into the front apron and 16-inch light-alloy wheels in an eight-hole design. The suspension was lowered by 23 millimetres compared to the other models in the series, and the rear axle featured hydropneumatic level control as standard.

The German motoring magazine “auto motor und sport” wrote the following about the Mercedes-Benz 500 E in edition 25/1990: “As forgiving as a fairytale uncle, as agile as a fast sports car, and comfortable as well? Yes indeed, that is the most surprising aspect of this suspension system. Despite the taut setup, the springs and dampers absorb surface irregularities in such a well-mannered way that even very demanding occupants have little reason to whinge.”

1991: launch of the Convertible

In September 1991, the 300 CE-24 Convertible arrived as a further body variant in the model series 124. After a gap of exactly 20 years, this meant that a four-seater convertible was once again available in the medium class. The Coupé was used as the basis for development of the Convertible. Enormous design effort went into preparing the two-door variant for its role as an open-top car – around 1,000 parts had to be redesigned just to give greater rigidity to the bodywork. All in all each Convertible needed more than 130 kilograms of additional sheet steel to statically compensate for the missing 28 kilograms of the Coupé roof. A linear rollover bar located behind the rear seats was specifically developed for the Convertible – this extended almost vertically upwards within 0.3 seconds if a rollover was likely. It could be extended at the touch of a button at any time to act as a head restraint for passengers in the rear.

Four-valve technology in large-scale production

The three-litre six-cylinder engines with four-valve technology were already available for the Saloon, Coupé, and Estate from 1989, and the 300 CE-24 Convertible was also powered by this powerful petrol engine. In September 1992, the entire petrol engine range was thoroughly revised, and the four-cylinder units were now all equipped with four-valve technology.

As a world first, four-valve technology was also introduced in the five- and six-cylinder diesel models in 1993. The new technology not only ensured higher torque and output over a considerably wider engine speed range, but also reduced fuel consumption under full load by up to eight per cent. At the same time particulate emissions in the exhaust gas were reduced by around 30 per cent thanks to the improved combustion cycle.

Second facelift: from the medium class to the E-Class

A new nomenclature came into effect with the sales start of the model series 124 restyling facelift in June 1993. In line with the S-Class and the new C-Class, the medium class was now called the E-Class. This meant that the model designations now followed a modified system whereby a letter indicated the vehicle class. This was followed by a three-figure number based on the engine displacement as before. The previously added E indicating petrol engines with fuel injection was omitted, as there were no longer any carburettor engines in the model range. Moreover, there was no encoding of the body variants such as Coupé or Estate as these were obvious. In the diesel models the added lettering “Diesel” or “Turbodiesel” replaced the previous D.

Particular sportiness was exuded by the new E 60 AMG as the top model, which the Affalterbach-based performance brand offered with a six-litre variant of the M 119 V8 engine. The output of this muscle-car was 280 kW (381 hp) at 5,600 rpm. AMG also increased the output of the Coupé and Convertible: The E 36 AMG models with 200 kW (272 hp) at 5,750 rpm were likewise launched in 1993. They were equipped with a 3.6-litre engine based on the 3.2-litre M 104 power unit. In 1993, AMG models are indicated the vehicle class by a two-figure number based on the engine displacement.

Discontinuation after production of over 2.7 million units

Production of the 124-model series Saloon ceased in August 1995. The Estate continued to be produced until 1996, and Mercedes-Benz also produced CKD (completely knocked down) kits of the Saloon models E 250 Diesel and E 220 for assembly abroad until 1996. Production of the Convertible even continued until 1997. During the production period of just over eleven years, 2,213,167 Saloons, 340,503 Estates, 141,498 Coupés, 33,952 Convertibles, 2342 long-wheelbase Saloons, and 6,398 chassis with semi-bodies for special conversions were produced in all: This makes a total of 2,737,860 units – over 40,000 more than the previous record holder, the preceding model series 123. Lovingly cared-for examples of the 124-model series are today among the most popular Mercedes-Benz young classics.
Did you already know?

On 10 October 1994 – i.e. exactly 20 years ago – the 10,000th Mercedes-Benz E 500 was delivered. The happy customer was former racing driver Hans Herrmann.

Two cars fitted with a Daimler two-cylinder V-engine shared first prize in the world’s first motor car race in 1894 and a Benz vehicle received 5th prize. The reliability test drive from Paris to Rouen paved the way for the unique tradition of 120 years of Mercedes-Benz motor sport history. But the winners of the race from Paris to Rouen were not only the vehicles from Panhard & Levassor and Peugeot, but the motor car with a combustion engine per se. After all, on the 126-kilometre-long route, the motor vehicle powered by the fast-running Daimler engine demonstrated its superiority over road-going vehicles with other propulsion systems. This magic moment would change mobility for ever: “How can you travel other than in an motor car?”, is how on 23 July the newspaper “Le Petit Journal”, organiser of the competition, enthusiastically summed up the result of the competition, as it looked forward to the future with excitement and anticipation.

The first motor car race in history, which took place on July 22, 1894 over the 126-kilometre route from Paris to Rouen, was not just about speed. Rather the aim was for vehicles to demonstrate their excellent road-going credentials as part of the competition organised by the French daily newspaper “Le Petit Journal”: the vehicle to win would be the one that most effectively fulfilled the criteria, “to be easy to operate for the competitors without any danger and not too expensive to run”.

Safety, ease of operation, and transparent costs: those were the specialities of the motor car with fast-running combustion engine, at that point just eight years old, compared to steam technology in particular. And so the brands Panhard & Levassor and Peugeot took away the (shared) first prize of 5,000 francs for their vehicles equipped with Daimler engines. The jurors singled out Daimler’s innovativeness as especially noteworthy: “The Daimler engine, developed by a skilled engineer from Württemberg; Mr Daimler – who was present yesterday in Rouen to share in the triumph of his work – has turned petroleum or gasoline fuel into a practical solution.”

The first car race from Paris to Rouen, 22 July 1894. The Peugeot from Albert Lemaître (starting number 65), pictured on the left-hand rear seat Adolphe Clément. The Peugeot with an engine manufactured under licence from Daimler was the first vehicle with a combustion engine to finish the race, crossing the line in second.

Birth of motor sport alongside the Bois de Boulogne

21 vehicles in total were approved for the race from Paris to Rouen. They had to go through test drives on the three days before the final competition to qualify to take part in the long-distance race. From 7 a.m. on July 22, 1894, the vehicles lined up on the starting grid at the Porte Maillot in the Paris district of Neuilly sur Seine, located right next to the Bois de Boulogne. The start on the Boulevard Maillot was scheduled for “8 o’clock sharp”. The steam tractor of Count de Dion with its single-axle passenger trailer in tow was the first vehicle to set off at 8.01 a.m., with the remaining vehicles following at intervals of 30 seconds.

The road had not been specially cordoned off for the reliability test drive. The traffic proved very heavy particularly after the start because the extensive reporting in the run-up to the race had attracted thousands of spectators; to compound matters other vehicles were mingling among the starters: “The convoy is led, flanked and pursued by numerous cyclists, also by a number of vehicles with a mechanical propulsion system which are tackling the route as amateurs.”

The motorised spectators also included Gottlieb Daimler and his son Paul, who were excitedly following this day that would be so important for their engine. 20 years later, Paul Daimler reminisced in an article for the “Allgemeine Automobil-Zeitung” (AAZ) on the diverse starting line-up: “The race cars, with disparate shapes, types and sizes, heavy steam carriages with trailers with huge wheels, competed with the lightest steam-powered three-wheelers, and these in turn with petrol-engined cars.  We ourselves accompanied the race in our own vehicle. It was a curious spectacle seeing these disparate vehicle types racing against each other: the stokers on the heavy steamers, dripping with perspiration and covered with soot, working hard to put on fuel; the drivers of the small steam-powered three-wheelers keeping a watchful eye on the pressure and water level in the small, skilfully fitted tubular boiler and regulating the oil firing; and then in contrast to all that the drivers of the petrol- and paraffin-powered cars sitting calmly in the driver’s seat, operating a lever now and again, as if they were simply out for a pleasure trip – an utterly peculiar image of contrasts that has remained with me ever since.”

From Paris the route took them to Mantes where the competitors stopped for lunch. Suitably refreshed, it was then on towards Rouen where the first vehicle (de Dion) arrived at 5.40 p.m. Two Peugeot cars followed with the 2.6 kW (3.5 hp) Daimler two-cylinder V-engine (Albert Lemaitre/5.45 p.m., Auguste Doriot/5.50 p.m.) and two other Panhard & Levassor vehicles, which were also powered by Daimler engines (Paul Panhard/6.03 p.m., Emile Levassor/6.30 p.m.). The “Système Daimler” was a two-cylinder V-engine built under licence in France according to Gottlieb Daimler’s original plans.

17 out of the 21 starters crossed the finishing line – 9 of them fitted with Daimler engines. The engineer Emile Roger, starting in a Benz vehicle with an output of 3.7 kW (5 hp), was the 14th to cross the finishing line. In 1888, he became the sole agent for Benz vehicles and engines in France, but deliberately chose to avoid mentioning the origins of the Mannheim-based motor car when registering for the competition from Paris to Rouen in 1894. Roger took 5th place in the competition and in the final report, which was published in the “Le Petit Journal” on July 24, 1894, was singled out for praise by virtue of the “successful improvements to the motor car with petrol engine”.

While Roger imported complete Benz vehicles, Daimler initially provided engine technology expertise for the French motor car manufacturer: as early as 1887, Gottlieb Daimler was negotiating with Edouard Sarazin from Paris about marketing his developments on French territory. Sarazin in turn agreed with businessman Emile Levassor that the latter would build the Daimler engines under licence. Following Sarazin’s untimely death, his wife Madame Louise – she would later marry Levassor – carried on the business, thus laying the foundations for the French motor car industry. The engines built by Panhard & Levassor from 1889 onwards accelerated the development of the motor car in France.

In the world’s first car race from Paris to Rouen on 22 July 1894 over a distance of 126 kilometres, cars powered by Daimler engines won first prize. A vehicle from Benz also successfully took part in the race and was awarded fifth prize.

The motor car triumphed over the steam carriage

The steam-powered tractor of Count Jules-Albert de Dion, which from a modern-day perspective seems utterly bizarre, may well have completed the route in the shortest time, but fulfilled the rules and regulations much less effectively than the more sophisticated motor cars. Other steam-powered vehicles also took part in the competition; three of these, however, failed to complete the 126-kilometre route with its poor road conditions.

Races like the “Concours du Petit Journal” held in 1894 have a long tradition in France: Pierre Giffard, publisher of the “Petit Journal” and inventor of the automotive reliability test from Paris to Rouen, also organised the Paris–Brest–Paris cycle race (1891) and the Paris marathon (1896). Yet the motor car race in July 1894 to find the most reliable vehicle took on a dimension that went beyond sport – it was about redefining mobility on the road, explained the “Petit Journal” in December 1893 with its announcement of the “Competition for horseless vehicles, with mechanical propulsion” (« un concours de voitures sans chevaux, à propulsion mécanique »).

The competition was designed to help accomplish one of the great unsolved tasks faced by engineers: “At the end of the 19th century, human inventiveness, which in less than 100 years has created steam power, gas, electricity, and other types of propulsion, has still not found a mechanical process for replacing horses as the propulsion for vehicles.”  Viewed from this perspective, the race from Paris to Rouen marked both the birth of motor sport and the final of the competition between the various propulsion systems – from which the motor car would emerge as the undisputed winner. And quite incidentally, the future name of the vehicle would be coined in the media reports: whereas the “Petit Journal” was still referring to “horseless carriages with mechanical propulsion” in 1893 (« voitures sans chevaux, à propulsion mécanique »), the reporters in July 1894 were already writing about “voiture automotrice” and “automobile” in reference to the race.

Various vehicles, each powered with Daimler engines, notched up important victories in the ensuing years, thus underpinning the excellent reputation of cutting-edge technology from Stuttgart – including in the race from Paris to Bordeaux in June 1895, which was regarded as the first motor car race in the proper sense. Many other legendary race victories recorded in France form part of the magic moments of 120 years of Mercedes-Benz motor sport: these include Daimler’s dominance in the Nice Race Week 1901, which gave rise to the brand name Mercedes.

In 1908, Christian Lautenschläger won the French Grand Prix in Dieppe in a Mercedes, ahead of two Benz race cars. In 1914, Daimler then celebrated a triple victory at the French Grand Prix in Lyon. In the era of the first Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows (1934 to 1939), the Stuttgart-based brand won the French Grand Prix in 1938 (Reims) and the Pau Grand Prix in 1939. France is also associated with the Mercedes-Benz decision to return to motor racing after the Second World War: in 1952 the 300 SL race car (W 194) won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, while 1954 saw the “Reims Wonder” – the double victory of the new W 196 R race car in the French Grand Prix – pave the way for the return of the Silver Arrows to Grand Prix racing.

The decision makers at Daimler-Benz AG thought long and hard about introducing a compact model series below the executive segment in the 1920s and 1930s and then from the early 1950s onwards. Several projects were conceived, some of them very advanced, but for one reason or another they never came to fruition.

But, in the early 1970s, the idea of a compact Mercedes-Benz got an unexpected boost thanks to the Clean Air Act. Introduced under President Jimmy Carter, the act specified the fleet fuel consumption for the vehicles of all manufacturers on sale in the USA. This was know as the “Corporate Average Fuel Economy” (CAFE). In 1985, it was 27.5 miles per gallon (8.3 litres per 100 kilometres), quite a challenge for many car brands, including Mercedes-Benz. Because the U.S. was a key market for Mercedes, a shift to develop a new, more compact and more fuel efficient model series immediately took precedence.

Check out the gallery below for a look at the compact model and how it came to be or read on below for a history of Mercedes-Benz compacts.

Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution (W 201), 1989

In January 1974 Head of Development Prof. Hans Scherenberg defined the key requirements for such a Mercedes-Benz. This is how he phrased it: “It’s clear that this must be a typical Mercedes-Benz. So we are not able to make too many compromises in terms of refinement, safety and the associated Mercedes-Benz characteristics.” The first specifications book he signed for model series 201 specified the following as early as 4 February 1974: “The aim with this product is not to penetrate the medium-size-category markets, which have been occupied by brands such as Opel and Ford for many years. Moreover, the 201 model is to be deliberately distinct from these due to the trademark characteristics customers expect in terms of quality, safety and refinement.” Prof. Werner Breitschwerdt, who succeeded Scherenberg as Development Chief in 1977, didn’t feel the need to change any of this.

Mercedes-Benz saloon of W 201 model series

This meant that the brief was almost akin to squaring the circle: traditional Mercedes-Benz brand values such as comfort, safety, longevity and reliability, which had previously been implemented to perfection in larger vehicles across all generations, now had to be transferred to a compact vehicle without exception. This major engineering feat was a massive challenge. So no wonder the expectation among journalists was huge when the new compact vehicles in model series 201 were unveiled to the world’s press in Seville, Spain in November 1982. And they were not disappointed.

The first surprise was the design. A vehicle that was unique yet unmistakably a Mercedes-Benz was produced under the guidance of Bruno Sacco. Furthermore, the compact Mercedes-Benz had a low drag coefficient (Cd value) of 0.33 and a sophisticated, uncomplicated design with an undeniably youthful and dynamic elegance.

Active and passive safety have been key quality aspects at Mercedes-Benz for generations. And model series 201 set the standards in this respect, too, when compared with both Mercedes-Benz models and competitor models. The active safety system, in which a key role was played by the multi-link independent rear suspension with five links arranged at various levels, was remarked upon in issue 1/1983 of German car magazine “auto motor und sport” with reference to the 190 E model: “When configuring the suspension, the Daimler-Benz engineers focussed on conveying the highest possible degree of driving safety without losing any of the pleasure associated with the car’s dynamic aspects. The 190 E thus had the best cornering ability of any Mercedes-Benz, with largely neutral understeer/oversteer characteristics, very high possible, almost fully absent load changes – and it offered immense driving pleasure. […] The effortlessness with which the 190 E takes bends is nothing short of astonishing. For the normal 190 E driver, the reserves offered by the suspension can have a calming effect.”

Mercedes-Benz W 201 model series, crash test

One of the major factors behind this was the multi-link independent rear suspension conceived by Dr Kurt Enke and, following his early death, designed by Manfred von der Ohe. It became the standard for all subsequent rear axles designed by Mercedes-Benz. But outside of the company, too, it became the blueprint for many other rear axle designs over the years. Model series 201, a relatively small Mercedes-Benz vehicle, therefore continued the tradition of being a trendsetter for innovative design ideas.

Model series 201 was just as uncompromising when it came to passive safety. This made it the safest vehicle in its class and put it on a par with the S-Class of the time, model series 126. Even in 1991, a model series 201 vehicle displayed exemplary passive safety when compared to far newer competitors in an offset crash test.

Mercedes-Benz C-Class (W 202), experimental vehicle with electric drive and ZEBRA battery, 1993.

Making model series 201 a typical Mercedes-Benz in all respects without compromising on the key brand values – an objective that had initially seemed like a utopian dream – therefore became a reality. This not only paved the way to success for all the “190” model variants, it also successfully opened up the smaller vehicle segment for Mercedes-Benz. From May 1993 onwards, the brand continued the world-wide success story with model series 202, the first to bear the C-Class name. Having started out as the “Baby-Benz”, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class is today one of the most popular vehicles in the premium segment.

Since 1894 products of the Mercedes, Benz and Mercedes-Benz brands have been dominating the motor sport scene on international tracks.  Partaking in the world’s first-ever car race in 1894, the first Grand Prix victory of a Mercedes at Nice Race Week in 1901 and dominating the sport with an impressive one-two-three finish of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft in the Grand Prix of Lyon in 1914, racing is an integral part of the Mercedes-Benz brand.

Take a walk through 120 years of motor sport history in the photo gallery below and make sure to read the photo descriptions for an in-depth look at each photo.

We always talk about the history of the automobile, where it came from, it’s original concepts and it’s progression in to the most common mode of transportation.  But what if the car as we know it today hadn’t been invented, would it have been possible for one of these other inventions to make it mainstream?  We’re seriously hoping that’s not the case as I personally don’t want to cross the Hudson on a motorized surfboard in a business suit, only to be picked up by a giant wheel like contraption.

Scroll down for a complete look at our top ten transportation fails.

Shortly before Christmas Eve 1913, British racing driver L. G. Hornsted set two new world records at Brooklands, for the half-mile and the kilometre. He was driving a Benz 200 hp, a modified variant of the “BlitzenBenz”, or “LightningBenz” – already a legend at the time. In January 1914, the Britain, born in 1884, added seven more records to his tally of victories.

200 hp Benz, called “Blitzen-Benz”, a record-setting car from the year 1909

What a great Christmas present to himself: three days before Christmas Eve 1913, British racing driver Lydston Granville Hornsted, better known by his initials L. G. or his nickname Cupid, headed out onto the track at Brooklands, southwest of London, to set new records in his Benz 200 hp. The average speeds achieved by Hornsted were 113.8 km/h over the half-mile (804,67 metres) and 118.8 km/h for the kilometre, both from a standing start. These world records are just two highlights in the extraordinary history of the Benz 200 hp racing cars, which became known as the “BlitzenBenz”, primarily in the United States of America, during the years 1910 to 1913. Hornsted’s performance was also evocative of the legendary, record-breaking drives of Victor Hémery in the first Benz 200 hp racer in November 1909, when the car broke the 200 km/h barrier. Hémery put in average speeds of 202.648 km/h over the kilometre distance and 205.666 km/h over the half-mile, both with a flying start.

The record-breaking car driven by Hornsted was the third in a line of six Benz 200 hp racing cars that began in 1909. Among its other successes, the 1912 incarnation took victories in hill climbs at Gaillon and Limonest, France, with Fritz Erle at the wheel. Then, in 1913, L. G. Hornsted made enquiries in Mannheim about acquiring a powerful vehicle for racing and record attempts. The English driver, who listed his occupations as driver, mechanic, and tester, was already operating as a representative for Benz & Cie. in England at the time. His aim with the 200 hp was to build on his previous successes in older Benz racing cars.

Hornsted wanted a number of changes to the vehicle’s original configuration. These included a modified radiator grille, a detachable wind deflector, and other technical modifications. Legend has it that one request, to extend the prodigious exhaust from the 21.5-litre, four-cylinder engine to the rear of the vehicle, was realised by attaching a stove pipe.

L.G. „Cupid“ Hornsted during a record run at Brooklands.

The vehicle, now painted blue, made its debut at Brooklands in November 1913; on 22 December, Hornsted set the first records. However, this was not enough for the young man, born the son of the British Vice-Consul to Moscow in 1884, who went on to put in a total of seven more record-breaking drives with the Benz 200 hp in January 1914. First up, on 14 January, were two world records over 2 miles (122.05 mph, 196.38 km/h) and 5 miles (116.08 mph, 186.77 km/h) with flying starts. Five months later, on 24 June 1914, Hornsted drove the mile at Brooklands at 124.12 mph (199.71 km/h). This was the first record to be set under the new two-way rule, which required an average speed from two runs in opposite directions – it was also the fastest speed ever recorded at Brooklands at that time. In July, Hornsted and his famous car recorded the best time among the racers competing in the Ostend one-kilometre race in Belgium, with a speed of 189.5 km/h.

Later in 1914, the record-breaking vehicle returned to Benz & Cie. in Mannheim, Germany, where it remained in the R&D department throughout the First World War. After the war was over, the Mannheim mechanics fitted new bodywork, painted in traditional white, to the chassis of Hornsted’s machine. The car took part in the 1921 inaugural race on the AVUS track in Berlin and in 1922 entered the one-kilometre race at Scheveningen in the Netherlands. In July 1922, the vehicle returned to Brooklands, where it successfully competed in a number of races with H. V. Barlow at the helm. On 30 September 1922, an accident near the end of a race all but destroyed the car when it shot over the barrier on the banked curve at the north end of the circuit.

If you’re a regular reader of eMercedesBenz, you’re no doubt familiar with the origins of the Mercedes-Benz brand and the three-pointed star. But for those of you who are just joining us or those of you who may have missed our past coverage on the subject, Daimler today has published a refresher course detailing briefly the historical milestones that led to the Mercedes-Benz we know and love today.

A few of the topics covered include where the name Mercedes was derived from, what led to the introduction of the three-pointed star and what the star symbolizes. Also shown are the various incarnations of the logo over the years, each of which played an instrumental role in helping shape one of the most recognizable brands in existence.

To view these and a host of other details regarding the history of the Mercedes-Benz brand, you can find more info in the official press release below or for a quicker and more visual way to view the Mercedes-Benz history, skip straight to the photo gallery.

Enjoy.

There is no question that the Mercedes-Benz S-Class is synonymous with luxury, comfort, and safety. With the recently leaked photos of the 2014 S-Class, we wanted to take a look back at how it came to be. Beginning with it’s first version, the W187 in 1951 through to its most recent model, the W221 S-Class that has reigned since 2005, take a look below for a brief history of each version.

Check back below at 12:15 CST for the live premiere of the 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

From W 187 to “Ponton Mercedes” (1951 to 1959)

The direct ancestral line of the S-Class began in 1951, when Mercedes-Benz returned to the high-end segment for the first time since the end of the Second World War with the 220 model (W 187). Launched at the same time, the prestigious Mercedes 300 (W 186) was the largest and fastest car in series production in Germany and the yardstick by which other luxury vehicles were measured. It became known as the “Adenauer Mercedes” because it was the favourite official car of German chancellor Konrad Adenauer.

The next generation of the S-Class followed in 1954: the model 220 (W 180) was the first Mercedes-Benz six-cylinder car to feature a unitised body design. Its ultra-modern “pontoon” body offered previously unheard of levels of comfort. The single-joint swing axle, which had a low pivot point and had been developed for the Mercedes racing cars, ensured first-class handling.

Mercedes-Benz 300 (W 186 / W 189, 1951 to 1962). The car in the photo dates from 1952

From the “tailfin” to the 300 SEL 6.3 (1959 to 1972)

The “tailfin” models introduced in 1959 earned their nickname from the understated sight lines adorning the rear wings. The 111/112 model series represented a milestone in automotive history, as this was the first time that Béla Barényi’s safety shell had been put into service in a series-production car.

In 1963, Mercedes-Benz launched the prestigious 600 model (W 100) which followed in the tradition of the Super Mercedes. This exclusive, top-of-the-range vehicle was available as a limousine with either a standard, or long wheelbase, or as a landaulet. Its extensive appointments reflected the pinnacle of what was technologically possible at the time.

The timelessly elegant saloons of the 108/109 model series – the successor to the “tailfins” – made their debut in 1965. A highlight of this S‑Class generation was the 300 SEL 6.3 model that appeared in 1968. This top-of-the-range vehicle used the same powerful V8 engine as the model 600 and delivered performance on a par with sports cars.

Mercedes-Benz 220 SE (W 111, 1959 to 1965). The car in the photo dates from 1964

The first S-Class (model series 116, 1972 to 1980)

In 1972, the 116 model series set new standards with its modern design and extensive comfort and safety features. It was the first model series to officially be called the S-Class, though the letter S had long been used internally by Mercedes-Benz as a designation for high-end vehicles. In 1978, the 116 model series became the world’s first mass-production car to offer anti-lock brakes.

Mercedes-Benz S-Class 116 series (1972 to 1980). The 450 SEL 6.9 model in the photo dates from 1980

Modern classic (model series 126, 1979 to 1991)

Launched in 1979, the 126 model series had a clean, modern design that did away with the traditional chrome bumpers in favour of plastic ones. The 126 model series raised the bar with regard to aerodynamics, driving comfort, and safety. The air bag, for example, made its debut in this model series in 1981, as did the front passenger air bag in 1988.

Mercedes-Benz S-Class 126 series (1979 to 1991). The 500 SEL model in the photo dates from 1982

A new superlative (model series 140, 1991 to 1998)

Introduced by Mercedes-Benz in 1991, the S-Class of the 140 model series delivered the maximum in comfort and performance. The 600 SE and 600 SEL were the first Mercedes-Benz saloons to be powered by a V12 engine. In 1995, the ESP® Electronic Stability Program was fitted as standard in the V12 versions – a world first.

Mercedes-Benz S-Class 140 series (1991 to 1998). The 600 SEL model in the photo dates from 1991

The S-Class of the 21st century (model series 220, 1998 to 2005)

In 1998, the S-Class 220 model series arrived on the market as the flagship vehicle for Mercedes-Benz’s new product strategy. It was marked by a much leaner design than its predecessor. Innovations available in this S-Class included the COMAND control and display system, the DISTRONIC proximity-controlled cruise control system, Active Body Control (ABC, available from 1999), and the preventive occupant protection system PRE-SAFE (2002).

Mercedes-Benz S-Class 220 series (1998 to 2005). The S 400 CDI model in the photo dates from 2002

Exclusive, safe and eco-friendly (model series 221, 2005 to 2013)

In 2005, Mercedes-Benz introduced its integral safety concept in the 221 model series of S-Class. By incorporating all elements of active and passive safety, this S-Class has brought Mercedes-Benz a significant step closer to the vision of safe, accident-free driving. In 2009, the 221 model series became the first luxury Mercedes-Benz model to feature a hybrid drive – at the same time, the S 400 HYBRID became the first series-production car to be fitted with a lithium-ion battery.

Mercedes-Benz S-Class 221 series (2005 to 2013). The S 500 model in the photo dates from 2007.

A history of automotive excellence

The exclusive tradition of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class dates right back to the beginning of the 20th century. Since that time, the range of products offered by Mercedes and Benz – Mercedes-Benz from 1926 – has always featured outstanding models in the high-end and luxury bracket. They are representative of an innovative, visionary approach to automotive engineering that shapes vehicle development as a whole. Mercedes-Benz is taking this long-established tradition into the future with the S-Class generation of 2013.

2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class

When it comes to classic car events, there is no question that the Mille Miglia is one of the highlights of the year. Car enthusiasts from around the world make the trek to Italy to watch or take part in the 1,000 mile endurance race that kicks off on May 16. Taking part in the 2013 Mille Miglia will be Mercedes-Benz Classic with the legendary 300 SLR, numerous other vintage models and Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Steve Cannon.

Watch the video below of last year’s Mille Miglia for an idea of what Steve Cannon and other racers and fans will experience at this year’s race.

Thanks to a long illustrious history, Mercedes-Benz and Mille Miglia will be forever linked. For example Karl Kling drove a 300 SL racing car (W 194) to finish second place in 1952, symbolising the successful return of the Mercedes-Benz brand to the international racing stage. And of course no one can forget the legendary victory of Rudolf Caracciola in 1931. Along with his co-driver Wilhelm Sebastian, the Mercedes-Benz driver became the first non-Italian to win the Mille Miglia in his SSKL model.

Mille Miglia 2012, Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR (W 196 S, 1955) with Jochen Mass at the wheel. Original car of Juan Manuel Fangio at the Mille Miglia 1955

And perhaps the most famous moment for Mercedes-Benz at the Mille Miglia was in 1955 when Stirling Moss and his co-driver Denis Jenkinson won the 1,000 mile race with the number 722 300 SLR (W 196 S). Sterling Moss won the race by maintaining an average speed of 97.95 mph.  The team completed the course in the fastest ever time of ten hours, seven minutes and 48 seconds.

There will be four famous faces representing Mercedes-Benz Classic at this year’s event: former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard will drive a 300 SLR (W 196 S) while Karl Wendlinger and Jochen Mass will team up in a 300 SL (W 198). Bernd Mayländer, the current driver of the Official F1 Safety Car, will also start at this year’s Mille Miglia in a 300 SL (W 198).

Juan Manuel Fangio (start number 658) in a Mercedes-Benz Model 300 SLR racing sports car just before the start of the 1955 Mille Miglia.

In addition to several Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (W 198) models, this superb line-up will include an SSK, the legendary six-cylinder supercharged vehicle from the pre-war era. Also taking part is the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL racing model (W 194) with the original chassis number 5. It is the same vehicle that saw Rudolf Caracciola secure fourth place at the Mille Miglia in 1952. What’s more, the 300 SLR with starting number 658, behind whose wheel David Coulthard will be starting the race, is an original participant vehicle: in 1955, the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio drove this very vehicle solo across the finish line to take second place in the overall rankings, coming in just behind the winning team of Moss and Jenkinson, thus making 1955 doubly successful for the Mercedes-Benz brand.

The vehicles from Mercedes-Benz Classic at Mille Miglia 2013

Mercedes-Benz SSK 27/170/225 hp (W 06), 1928

Of all the six-cylinder supercharged vehicles from the Mercedes-Benz S-series, the SSK (W 06) is the most exclusive and most impressive model. SSK stands for “Super-Sport-Kurz” (Super Sport Short) and its particularly sporty design is emphasised by the shortened wheelbase. Rudolf Caracciola got off to a flying start in the summer of 1928 in the brand-new SSK, winning the Gabelbachrennen race, as well as both the Schauinsland and Mont Ventoux races. In 1930 and 1931, the SSK helped him secure victory at the European Hill Climb Championship. Spectacular success was also achieved with the lighter, even more powerful version from 1931, known as the SSKL (“Super-Sport-Kurz-Leicht”; Super Sport Short Light). One particularly significant victory was recorded at Mille Miglia in April 1931 when Rudolf Caracciola drove the SSKL over the finishing line in first place, making him the first ever non-Italian to win the race. He even set a new record by travelling at an average speed of 101.1 km/h.

The 'Mille Miglia', the 1,000-mile race starting and finishing in Brescia, 12 and 13 April 1931. Rudolf Caracciola and his co-driver Wilhelm Sebastian in a Mercedes-Benz SSKL racing car (W 06 RS model series) at the finish line in Brescia. It is the first time that a foreigner is the overall winner of this famous Italian race.

Mercedes-Benz 300 SL racing car (W 194), 1952

Mercedes-Benz returned to the world of international motorsport after the Second World War in 1952 with the 300 SL racing car (W 194). This vehicle was based on an extremely light, yet torsionally stiff space frame, covered by an elegantly curved, aerodynamic light-alloy body shell made from aluminium magnesium sheet metal. The space frame, with its increased torsional stiffness, was quite high at the sides of the vehicle in comparison to other vehicles. In turn, this meant that conventional doors were not suitable. Instead, the W 194 featured the characteristic gullwing doors attached to the roof. This design was also used for the 300 SL (W 198) series-production sports car from 1954, referred to in the English-speaking world as the “Gullwing”.

Powering the W 194 was the 170 hp (125 kW) M 194 inline six-cylinder engine with 2996 cubic centimetres of displacement. The 300 SL launched its racing career at the Mille Miglia in May 1952, after being unveiled in March of the same year. There were major successes recorded in the first and only racing season of the W 194, which included 1st. 2nd and 3rd place at the Bern Prize for Sports Cars, the spectacular 1st and 2nd place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and at the 3rd Carrera Panamericana in Mexico, as well as winning the Jubilee Grand Prix for sports cars at the Nürburgring.

Mille Miglia, 3 to 4 May 1952. Driving team Rudolf Caracciola/Paul Kurrle (No. 613) with Mercedes-Benz 300 SL racing sports car (W 194, 1952) takes fourth place

Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR (W 196 S), 1955

In 1955, Mercedes-Benz won the World Sportscar Championship with the 300 SLR. This vehicle is essentially a W 196 R Formula 1 racing car fitted with a two-seater sports car bodyshell albeit with a three-litre in-line eight-cylinder engine and light alloy cylinder blocks instead of the 2.5-litre Formula 1 engine and its welded steel cylinders which were required for thermal reasons.

With 310 hp (221 kW), the 300 SLR was way ahead of the competition in 1955, as proven by its 1st and 2nd place victories at the Mille Miglia, the Eifel race, the Swedish Grand Prix and Targa Florio. Stirling Moss and his co-driver Denis Jenkinson (start number 722) won the Mille Miglia in 1955 with a record average speed of 157.65 km/h, one that remains unbeaten to this day. They were helped to victory by the “prayer book”. This was a series of notes on the course used by Jenkinson to direct Moss as they travelled across Italy. Lone driver Juan Manuel Fangio (start number 658) took second place.

Juan Manuel Fangio (start number 658) in a Mercedes-Benz Model 300 SLR racing sports car just before the start of the 1955 Mille Miglia.

Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (W 198), 1954

In February 1954, the 300 SL “Gullwing” was unveiled to the world for the first time at the International Motor Sport Show in New York. The new high-performance sports car was based on the legendary 300 SL racing car (W 194) from the 1952 season. A light and torsionally rigid space frame supported the engine, gearbox and axles. Just like the racing version, it left no space for the classic door design, so the gullwing doors also became a distinctive feature of this series-production sports car. In any case, the “Gullwing” represented real innovative thinking. As the world’s first series-production passenger car, it was powered by a four-stroke engine with fuel injection. This not only increased efficiency, but also engine performance. With 215 hp (158 kW), thus 20 percent more than the carburettor racing version, top speeds of up to 260 km/h were possible, depending on the final transmission ratio. This made the 300 SL the fastest series-production vehicle of its time and the 1950s racing car that dreams were made of.

It also helped secure victory at Mille Miglia: in 1955, the team of John Fitch and Kurt Gessl won the Gran Turismo class for vehicles with a displacement of over 1600 cubic centimetres, achieving 5th place in the overall classification. Olivier Gendebien and Jacques Washer also secured 7th place in the same class. The 300 SL made another appearance at Mille Miglia in 1956 when the team of Prince Metternich and Count Einsiedel took 6th place in the big GT class.

Mille Miglia, Brescia in Italy, 1 May 1955. Winners in the production sports car class: John Cooper Fitch and Kurt Gesell (start number 417) in a Mercedes-Benz Type 300 SL (W 198) touring sports car

Mercedes-Benz 220 a (W 180), 1954

The 220 model introduced in the spring of 1954 – also known internally within the company as the 220 a (W 180) – was the first Mercedes-Benz six-cylinder model to feature a self-supporting structure. Presented by Mercedes-Benz just six months previously in the mid-size 180 model, the modern and spacious self-supporting “Pontoon” body offered a standard of comfort as yet unknown to drivers. The single-joint swing axle, introduced to series-production with the 220 model, ensured safe handling.

At the Mille Miglia in 1956, several Mercedes-Benz 220 models started in the class for standard special touring vehicles. In this class, modifications were permitted to both the chassis and the engine. The team of Erwin Bauer and Erwin Grupp won their class at the legendary Italian endurance race with a special 220 model. Three vehicles had been specially prepared for the Mille Miglia by Karl Kling and his team. They already had the twin-carburettor system of the successor 220 S model, with an engine capable of approximately 115 hp (85 kW). For the challenging journey, there were shorter and harder springs, as well as modified shock absorbers. Furthermore, the drivers were able to change gears using the floor shift, just like in the 190 SL, instead of the previously used steering column shift.

Mille Miglia 2012, Mercedes-Benz 220 a (W 180, 1954 bis 1959).

Mercedes-Benz Classic is making the exclusive history of the S-Class and its pioneering innovations the main focus of its brand presentation at the 25th Techno Classica in Essen from April 10-14, 2013. Mercedes-Benz, the world’s oldest car manufacturer will be presenting its exhibits at the largest international trade fair for classic vehicles on a stand covering 4500 square metres in hall 1 of the Essen Exhibition Grounds.

“The Techno Classica is actually one of the most important events in the year for classic cars,” is how Michael Bock, Head of Mercedes-Benz Classic, highlights the importance of the leading international exhibition for classic vehicles. “Together with our officially recognised brand clubs, we will be able to communicate the entire world of Mercedes-Benz Classic and at the same time demonstrate our very close partnership with them,” anticipates Michael Bock.

And here the Stuttgart brand will be dedicating 1000 square metres of its exhibition space solely to its luxury class, top-of-the-range vehicles from the S-Class and their predecessor model series – from the early days of the automobile right up to modern times. A particular gem is the Benz “Prinz-Heinrich-Wagen” from 1910. Mercedes-Benz Classic has extensively restored this original special touring car at great expense and in accordance with the requirement for utmost authenticity. The car therefore stands for both the excellent motorsport tradition of the brand and the outstanding competence of Mercedes-Benz Classic in the field of extensive, true-to-original restoration projects. The project was carried out in co-operation with the Louwman Museum in The Hague (the Netherlands), who also had a “Prinz-Heinrich-Wagen” from 1910 restored to original condition.

S-Class Gallery

The focal point of the Mercedes-Benz Classic exhibition will be the presentation of the unique S-Class tradition in a gallery of twelve vehicles. The importance of the S-Class and its product values with their roots going way back in brand history to the invention of the automobile will be demonstrated by three exhibits dating from the first half of the twentieth century: the Mercedes-Simplex 60 hp (1904), which was used as a touring car by businessman Emil Jellinek – whose daughter Mercédès Jellinek lent her name to the brand – as well as a Nürburg 460 (W 08, 1929) and a model 770 “Grand Mercedes” (W 07, 1931). In addition to nine other vehicles representing the ancestors of the range-topping, premium-segment saloons since 1951, the Mercedes-Benz Classic exhibition stand will be taking a look into the future with the new 222 model series which will be given its market launch this summer.

The Benz “Prinz-Heinrich-Wagen” from 1910

The “Prinz-Heinrich-Wagen” exhibited at the Techno Classica is one of only two true-to-original vehicles worldwide to have survived the more than 100 years since their first racing appearance. It is extraordinary proof of the visionary technological leadership of this era. The ten Benz racing touring cars built at the time were specifically designed for the Prince Heinrich Tour of 1910 and they were technically far ahead of their time. The spirit of such excellence is part of the Mercedes-Benz brand values which have formed the basis for the creation of amazing vehicles across all eras”. The car from the Mercedes-Benz Classic collection reached the finishing line of the 1910 Prince Heinrich Tour in 11th place, and then in the same year it also went on the Tsar Nicholas Tour. The car still has the modified engine which the racing car was fitted with for this race in Russia.

A good partnership between brand and clubs

Mercedes-Benz Classic and the officially recognised brand clubs once more demonstrate their mutual affinity at the Techno Classica 2013: the presentations from 17 clubs with a total of about 50 historical vehicles are included in the overall presentation of the brand’s own Classic area. “We really appreciate the great commitment shown by the brand clubs,” emphasises Michael Bock. “They are extremely important ambassadors for the long-lived fascination of the brand.”

Among the topics Mercedes-Benz Classic is taking up at the Techno Classica exhibition are the exemplary services provided by both Classic Centers and dealerships, the comprehensive services provided by garages and workshops, and the ready availability of Mercedes-Benz GenuineParts. The Mercedes-Benz Museum and the Mercedes-Benz Classic Store are also taking part in the exhibition.

Anniversary fair in Essen

This year it is the 25th time that the Techno Classica, the leading international trade fair for classic vehicles, will be held in Essen. The trade fair will be opened on 10 April 2013 with a preview, media and trade day followed by three more days from 11 to 14 April. The 2013 anniversary event has attracted great attention so that all of the 20 halls and the open-air section of the Essen Exhibition Grounds will be full. And very appropriately for the anniversary, 25 automotive brands from all over the world will also be exhibited at the Techno Classica.

Since it started in 1989, the Techno Classica has established itself as the leading venue and trading centre for the international classics scene. This year the organisers are expecting more than 180,000 visitors who will be awaited by more than 1200 exhibitors. There will be about 2500 high quality collector’s cars on show as well as restoration specialists, suppliers and spare parts providers – and in addition everything else connected with classic cars such as literature, models, accessories and art.

Heading to Stuttgart?

The history of the S-Class will be the focus of a special exhibition taking place at the Mercedes-Benz Museum from June 18 to November 3, 2013.

The pictures were taken in and around Boston , Massachusetts by Leslie Jones, who was staff photographer at the Boston-Herald Traveler newspaper from 1917 to 1956. Mr. Jones captured everything that happened in the city for five decades and when he died in 1967, his family donated a vast collection of 34,000 prints to the Boston Public Library.

They included these fascinating photos of vintage car wrecks from the great motoring boom. Motor cars became affordable to the masses for the first time in the 1920s. By the end of the decade a Model T Ford cost $298, just a fraction of the $1,200 it cost in 1909.

The introduction of hire purchase also made it much easier for members of the public to buy cars, and by 1929, 20 per cent of Americans were on the road. Ford, Chrysler and General Motors were all competing for the boom in business and by the time the depression hit in 1929, Ford was producing more than one car every minute.

Technology meant these early cars were capable of achieving speeds of up to 50 miles per hour – but safety measures were nowhere near as advanced as they are today. Add in the fact drivers didn’t need to pass a test before they got behind the wheel, and it’s easy to see why accidents were frequent and often spectacular.

Thanks to Thor for the tip.