The 125th birthday of the automobile is the central focus of the Mercedes-Benz presentation at Rétromobile 2011. This international specialist fair, one of the most important devoted to classic vehicles, will be held in Paris from 2 to 6 February 2011. The central division Mercedes-Benz Classic will present a small but exclusive number of sale and collection cars for the first time at the fair. They range from the Benz Patent Motor Car of 1886, the world’s first automobile, over a Mercedes-Benz 300 S Cabriolet A of the 1950s right up to the design study Concept Shooting Brake of 2010 pointing the way to the future. The stand in hall 7.3 this year will have an area of about 400 square metres.
Furthermore, a central topic for 2011 of Mercedes-Benz Classic will be Juan Manuel Fangio – the famous racing driver would have had his 100th birthday this year in June. The Rétromobile presents a special exposition of cars that Fangio drove, among them an original Mercedes-Benz W 196 of the Mercedes-Benz Classic collection. The Argentine racing driver won the world championships 1954 and 1955 on that type.
Sale cars round up the appearance on the Retromobile. Among others, Mercedes-Benz Classic will bring a 300 S Cabriolet A (W 188 series). The type was presented in October 1951 – almost 60 years ago – on the Paris motor show as a further top model beside the type 300 (W 186). It was positioned as a most representative car with sporty touch and to meet highest demands concerning road holding and speed. Contemporary press articles confirm that, they judge the model as a “car of the world elite” and a “benchmark for the achieveable in the car industry”.
Milestone Cars at the Rétromobile
The Patent Motor Car by Carl Benz was the first automobile with a high-speed internal combustion engine. Patent registration No. DRP 37 435 of 29. January 1886 is seen as the “birth certificate” of the automobile. Mercedes-Benz is exhibiting an exact replica of this vehicle at Rétromobile. The three-wheeler was the first purpose-designed automobile, and marked a departure from the then conventional horse-drawn coach – the engine, chassis and drive system were precisely coordinated and formed a single unit. This initially put Carl Benz well ahead of any competitors. A replica true to the original is available for collectors at Mercedes-Benz Classic.
Another exhibit at the Rétromobile fair in Paris is a Mercedes-Benz 500 K Luxury Roadster dating from 1936. When the model 500 K (W 29) was first presented at the 1934 Paris Motor Show, it rapidly became a huge public attraction. Then and now, its elegant design in combination with awe-inspiring supercharger technology and the sumptuous interior have a magnetic appeal –this car offered the finest and most expensive of its time. A total of 342 examples were built in all body variants, but the Roadsters are the most sought-after of all.
The Mercedes-Benz W 116 series was the first to be officially known as the S-Class. It appeared in 1975 as the flagship model 450 SEL 6.9, for many years the largest-displacement post-war passenger car produced by Mercedes-Benz and also the largest-displacement European saloon car. This model not only set standards in terms of cubic capacity: its performance figures, level of comfort, variety of appointments and the effortlessness with which it made long, high-speed journeys possible made it one of the best cars in the world.
The Concept Shooting Brake of Mercedes-Benz celebrated its world premiere in April 2010 as an insight by the designers into the possible future development of the Coupé concept. It also represents a clear indication of the further emotional appeal of the Mercedes-Benz design idiom. The public appraisal is enormous – and serial production is already decided. The market launch of the CLS Shooting Brake ist planned for 2012.
This coming Saturday, January 29, marks 125 years of automotive history, it was in 1886 that Carl Benz received the patent for the first motor car, heralding the birth of the automobile. From January 30, 2011, in addition to experiencing 125 years of automotive history, visitors to the Mercedes-Benz Museum can discover the answers to questions about the drive technologies of the future in the newly designed exhibition room Legend 6: ‘New start – The Road to Emission-free Mobility’.
“The motor car’s landmark anniversary is on everyone’s lips”, says Michael Bock, Head of Mercedes-Benz Classic. “Not only are we kicking off the anniversary year by looking at the history of the automobile, but our new room ‘New start – The Road to Emission-free Mobility’ mainly looks ahead to the future. Day after day, our visitors ask us where we go from here. We have taken up the challenge and will be presenting different drive-system variants in the Mercedes-Benz Museum – from the optimised internal combustion engine through electric and hybrid drive systems to the fuel cell.”
On the chronological tour through the decades, Legend 6 will highlight the challenges we face now and in the future. Many visitors to the Museum want to know how driving pleasure and responsibility can be reconciled in a vehicle. Five automotive exhibits in the newly designed theme room showcase the drive-system variants of the future. One of the exhibits will be replaced regularly to reflect the latest developments at Mercedes-Benz.
The room is encircled by a timeline featuring over 60 monitors. This genealogy enables museum visitors to track drive-system developments throughout the 125‑year history of automotive engineering. As in each of the Legend rooms, a workbench invites visitors to interact and delve more deeply into the topic – be it in the form of a microcinema, a touch display or a hands-on exhibit.
Vehicle exhibits: ‘New start – The Road to Emission-free Mobility’
The Mercedes-Benz Auto 2000 was first unveiled at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt in 1981. The vehicle was a response to a call from the German government for a car with the lowest possible fuel consumption – a glimpse of the future. The research vehicle offered three different drive concepts based on a single platform: the V8 petrol version, the V6 turbodiesel model shown here and the variant with gas-turbine drive each undercut the specified maximum fuel consumption limit of eleven litres per 100 kilometres – at the time an extremely low figure for a vehicle of this size.
In 1994, Mercedes-Benz presented the world’s first fuel-cell vehicle in the shape of the NECAR 1 (New Electric Car). The fuel cell converted hydrogen and oxygen into water, producing electrical energy which, in turn, powered an electric motor. The large hydrogen tanks and other energy-generation components weighed around 800 kilograms and filled the van’s entire cargo area. Although this invention was still a long way off anything approaching everyday practicality, it offered many advantages. Emission-free driving and a natural resource available in abundance were the main factors which convinced the Mercedes-Benz engineers. Subsequent vehicle generations succeeded in further miniaturising the fuel-cell technology.
In 2010, the B-Class F-CELL became the first series-production electric car with fuel cell to hit the market. At its heart is the new-generation fuel-cell drive system, which is compact, powerful and reliable as well as offering full everyday practicality. The fuel cell generates the traction current on board the vehicle, producing only pure water with no pollutant emissions. The result is a locally emission-free car with a range of 400 km, which can be fully refuelled within a matter of minutes. The B-Class F-CELL is therefore suitable for both urban and extra-urban driving.
Likewise launched in 2010, the Vito E-CELL was the first van with battery-electric drive to be produced in series. With a range of around 130 km and a top speed of 80 km/h, it is designed specifically for short-radius distribution in inner-city areas. Its emission-free drive system makes it ideal for areas with traffic bans in force because it generates no exhaust emissions and operates virtually silently. Thanks to the space-saving installation of the battery technology beneath the cargo area, there is nothing to restrict loading of the van.
Not yet on the road but already in the Museum: in January 2011, Mercedes-Benz is introducing the third-generation SLK-Class – a model series which sets new safety standards for open-top sports cars. BlueEFFICIENCY measures such as direct injection and the ECO start/stop function make the car up to 30% more efficient. Mercedes-Benz has introduced BlueTEC to make diesel cleaner and implemented BlueEFFICIENCY measures to cut the average fuel consumption of all models. The BlueDIRECT engine generation is proof that it is possible to boost output yet still remain highly efficient. These and future optimisation measures show that there is still much scope for further development of the internal combustion engine.
Orders for the new Mercedes-Benz SLK commenced on 17 January 2011. It will feature a new, exciting design, exceptionally high levels of comfort for a roadster, as well as exquisite technology and no shortage of open-air driving pleasure. As such, the agile sports car already looks set to continue a success story which started back in 1994 with a show car. Strictly speaking, however, the pedigree of the SLK stretches back even further – to the 190 SL, a vehicle which automotive enthusiasts were already dreaming about in 1955 as the economic upturn was starting in the Federal Republic of Germany.
When the SLK appeared as a series-produced car in 1996, it not only caused a stir on the road but also established a new market segment which has since grown by leaps and bounds. With the steel vario-roof, which transforms the roadster into an all-weather coupé within a matter of seconds, the roadster has been and still is the role model for many open-top cars. The success of the SLK has exceeded all expectations: to date, well over half a million owners have been delighted with their purchase of an SLK roadster.
The 190 SL – a new star in the automotive firmament in 1955
With the SLK, Mercedes-Benz continued its roadster tradition which stretches back a long way. Its direct ancestor is considered to be the 190 SL, which owes its existence primarily to the perseverance of Maximilian Edwin Hoffman. The enterprising American with Austrian roots was importing European cars into the USA as early as 1946, and in doing so demonstrated infallible instinct and tremendous flair. In 1953 he urged the executive boards of Daimler-Benz to build another affordable sports car, in addition to the 300 SL, for the American market. As an elegant sports car from a well-known company featuring an exciting design at a low price, the 190 SL was designed to charm the Americans.
After a development period of just five months, on 6 February 1954 the 190 SL celebrated its world premiere in New York, alongside the legendary 300 SL “gullwing”. Unlike the 300 SL, the 190 SL was not designed as a purebred sports car but rather as a sporty, elegant two-seater touring and utility vehicle. Its chassis was the shortened frame floor assembly from the Mercedes-Benz 180 (W 120), combined with the single-joint swing axle with lowered centre of rotation, as used in the 220 (W 180). The front-wheel suspension, including subframe design, came from the 180 model. The 190 SL was driven by a newly developed four-cylinder engine with a displacement of 1.9 litres, overhead camshaft and producing 105 hp. Depending on conditions, it could therefore reach a speed significantly over 170 km/h and accelerated from 0 to 100 km/h in 14 seconds.Series production started in May 1955.
The 190 SL was available as a roadster with soft top as well as a coupé with removable hard top, with or without a soft top as an option. A broad range of prominent social figures chose this elegant sports car to complement their image, including Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra, who drove a 190 SL in the film “Ten Thousand Bedrooms”.
The Mercedes-Benz 190 SL was built up until 1963. The clearest indication of just how much loved and successful the 190 SL was is demonstrated by the production figures: between May 1955 and February 1963, no less than 25,881 cars left the assembly lines in Sindelfingen – far in excess of the initial aspirations.
Two studies for the new type of roadster
Against this historical backdrop, it seemed only logical some decades later to revisit these considerations: would it not perhaps be appropriate for the SL-Class Mercedes-Benz models, now firmly established in their own right, to be joined by a younger brother? After all, Mercedes-Benz had launched an entirely new product initiative, to which a compact roadster could lend fresh emphasis by drawing attention to the sporting heart of the Mercedes-Benz brand.
An appropriate acronym for this newcomer was swiftly coined: SLK. In German, these three letters stand for the car’s characteristic properties – sporty, lightweight and short – and, given the great sporting successes of Mercedes-Benz back in the 1920s and 1930s, they have an almost mystical resonance.
In Turin in April 1994, roadster enthusiasts were able to gain a first glimpse of how Mercedes-Benz believed a compact roadster should look. A brilliant silver showstopper with a distinct aura of spartan sportiness sent the trade professionals into raptures. Bruno Sacco, Head of Design for the brand at the time, made it clear what the company’s aim was: “We are exhibiting a forward-looking roadster study which delivers a unique synthesis of purist motoring pleasure with all the safety features for which Mercedes cars are renowned”.
To meet these requirements, some formal individuality was called for. The SLK study reflected this thanks to its compact dimensions and some evident highlights. Short overhangs at the front and rear, as well as a distinctive wedge shape, embodied the enjoyment to be had from a hands-on driving experience. And the two “power domes” on the bonnet, running parallel to the direction of travel, were acknowledgement of the originator of all SLs dating from the 1950s. The SLK study revealed a lot of gleaming metal. Only 20 percent of the interior was covered, and the high-tech cockpit was dominated by bold shapes and high-quality materials.
To find out just how seriously the people in charge at Mercedes-Benz were taking this SLK project in its earliest days, you need look no further than the Paris Motor Show held in September of the same year. Here the company unveiled its second study, this time with vario-roof and in the form of a customised version in blue, with blue-tone leather and a range of additional luxury accessories such as automatic transmission, air-conditioning system, power windows, a hi-fi sound system and much more besides. This enabled Mercedes-Benz to demonstrate convincingly the breadth of appeal and the potential inherent in a compact roadster.
The SLK sets the trend before going into series production
Then the automotive enthusiasts started to wait. Many viewed the SLK as a very auspicious prospect indeed. Mercedes-Benz had done the unexpected and had demonstrated that a small and relatively inexpensive roadster was capable of offering a great deal of motoring pleasure while still being an absolutely serious and down-to-earth car in terms of safety and quality. This meant that the roadster studies had already opened up a new market niche, making the SLK a trendsetter even before series production had begun.
By 1996 everything was in place: the series production version of the new SLK, designated internally as the R 170, was launched at the Turin Motor Show. Especially high levels of interest were shown in the fully-lowering steel vario-roof which substantively backed up the SLK’s claim to being a car for all weathers. Using an intelligent electro-hydraulic system, the entire roof folded down into the boot in just 25 seconds, leaving the owner free to roam under an open sky.
The SLK also fielded a convincing range of other qualities. Take safety for example: two fixed roll-over bars behind the seats protected occupants from injury if the car should overturn and, in conjunction with the exceptionally robust A-pillars, delivered a very high level of safety even when these Mercedes-Benz cars are driven with the top down.
Engines from 136 to 354 hp
The sporting talent of the SLK was unleashed by two engine variants: a 2-litre four-cylinder engine with a power rating of 100 kW (136 hp) and a supercharged 2.3 litre engine, also a four-cylinder unit, delivering 142 kW (193 hp). In early 2000, the two-litre engine was also fitted with a belt-driven supercharger, boosting power to the rear axle to a new level of 120 kW (163 hp). The choice of engines was broadened by the arrival of two six-cylinder models, the 160 kW (218 hp) unit for the SLK 320 and the 260 kW (354 hp) powerplant in the SLK 32 AMG.
The evolution of the SLK continues
In February 2000, Mercedes-Benz substantially upgraded the level of equipment for its roadster and incorporated innovations such as the Electronic Stability Program (ESP®), a six-speed manual transmission and SPEEDTRONIC in its standard equipment package. In visual terms, a new bumper and side skirts gave the car an even more dynamic appearance. All the attachments and door handles were painted to match the vehicle body to enable the whole car to present an image of a unified whole in terms of both colour and form. New taillights, stainless steel trim on the exhaust tailpipe and a painted radiator grille gave the SLK design an even more commanding identity.
Even more driving pleasure with the second generation SLK
In the spring of 2004, the second generation of the SLK (internal model series designation: R 171) was launched – offering more sportiness and dynamism, and even more driving pleasure. Thanks to powerful engines, a newly developed chassis, direct steering and a precise six-speed shift mechanism, the second generation of the SLK provided an even more responsive driving experience. As a world first, Mercedes-Benz introduced the AIRSCARF neck-level heating system. At the touch of a button, it generates warm air which is blown out of the head restraints. This now meant that drivers of the SLK were able to enjoy open-top driving and the open-air roadster experience all year round, even when outside temperatures dropped.
True to the principle of ongoing development, in 2008 the SLK underwent a comprehensive facelift. The most significant visual changes included redesigned front and rear sections and also a carefully modified interior with new instrument cluster and three-spoke sports steering wheel. The distinctive dynamic character of the two-seater was brought to the fore to particularly good effect in the SLK 350 courtesy of a high-revving V6 sports engine producing 224 kW (305 hp) along with an optional Direct-Steer system. In addition, despite their significantly increased performance, all of the engines were more economical in terms of fuel consumption and in turn therefore produced less CO2 emissions.
The new SLK sets standards once more
The new SLK, which was presented in January 2011 and designated internally as the R 172, will now also follow in these same footsteps. Thanks to new engines, among other things, the roadster will consume significantly less fuel, thus demonstrating that achieving pure driving pleasure while maintaining a clear conscience when it comes to the environment do not necessarily have to be conflicting principles. The new SLK combines nimble-footed sportiness with stylish comfort, a striking sports car design with absolute suitability for everyday use, and top-of-the-range performance with exemplary ecology. In addition, a unique series of safety equipment enables the SLK to assume the role of benchmark in this segment. Standard equipment on the vehicle will include, among other features, the ATTENTION ASSIST drowsiness detection system. Mercedes-Benz will also be the world’s first automotive manufacturer to offer the panoramic vario-roof with MAGIC SKY CONTROL as an optional extra. With this innovation, the transparent glass roof can be darkened in a matter of seconds at the touch of a button. Thanks to such a rich array of technical innovations, the SLK will once more set the standard in its class.
Model chronicle: the Mercedes-Benz SLK
1994
1996
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2004
2008
2011
It was on 29 January 1886 that Carl Benz filed an application in Berlin for a patent on his three-wheeled motor car. Ever since, that day has been considered the official birthday of the motor car, which, in 2011, celebrates its 125th anniversary. At the same time as Benz, Gottlieb Daimler was developing the first four-wheeled motor car. In this way, working independently of each other, the founding fathers of today’s Daimler AG and its globally successful Mercedes-Benz core brand laid the foundation stone for all present-day passenger cars, commercial vehicles and buses. The company that invented the motor car has since that time gone on to shape its development more diversely and enduringly than any other motor vehicle manufacturer – in all relevant areas, from drive technology to comfort and safety through to design.
Innovation has always been the key to success for a car manufacturer and is set to become even more important in future. Without the courage to go in search of new ideas, there would be no motor car; and without innovation, there would be no progress. Mercedes-Benz, the inventor of the motor car, has always pressed ahead vigorously with the development of that mode of transport. For instance, the company has repeatedly underpinned its claim to technological leadership with over 80,000 patent applications since 1886, the year in which Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, respectively, unveiled their “Patent-Motorwagen” and “motorised carriage”. As the world’s first car, the Benz Patent-Motorwagen is the symbol of pioneering spirit par excellence. In its day, the exquisitely engineered three-wheeler made it clear at first sight that a new age of mobility had dawned. Daimler’s motorised carriage was the first motor car with four wheels.
These two vehicles represented the start of a unique success story – a story that has continuously had new chapters added to it by Mercedes-Benz. For, time and time again, it has been trendsetting inventions from the Stuttgart-based car manufacturer that have resulted in the “horseless carriage”, which was initially said by critics to have “no future”, evolving not only into an icon of personal freedom, but also into a significant factor within the economy. Alongside the first bus and the first motor truck, the company’s most important innovations also include the first modern passenger car, the Mercedes 35 hp, which was presented in February 1900.
Mercedes 35 hp: the prototype of all modern passenger cars
At the turn of the century, the Mercedes 35 hp, the prototype of all modern passenger cars, was the definition of a fundamentally new and ever since prevailing vehicle architecture: it marked the transition from the long-legged “motor carriage” to the motor car as we know it today. The decisive technical innovations were its long wheelbase, wide track, low centre of gravity and angled steering column. These improvements created the basis for comfortable and safe driving, something that was first turned into reality in a Mercedes.
There are also some characteristic features such as the elongated form and the honeycomb radiator, which, organically integrated into the front end, was to finally solve the hitherto omnipresent problem of how to cool the engine, quite apart from emerging as a distinguishing mark of the brand. With its light-alloy crankcase, the powerful four-cylinder engine served as a model for today’s still current lightweight design and was, furthermore, installed low in the frame. Its exhaust valves were controlled by a camshaft, this significantly improving the smoothness of operation, stability at idle and acceleration. The construction principle of “engine at the front, final drive to the rear wheels” was to establish itself in the long term as the conventional drive layout.
The first Mercedes – the first modern-day motor car
The “35 hp” was the first vehicle to sport the Mercedes brand name and went down in history as the first modern-day motor car. Many other manufacturers were to copy this innovative concept, which proved to be superior in every respect. Mercedes-Benz thus from an early date established its claim to be the leader in technology and design.
Spirit of innovation as a driving force behind car development
Thanks to its design creativity, Mercedes-Benz has been successful in driving ahead automotive progress with a succession of new ideas aimed at constantly reinventing the concept of personal mobility and opening up new areas of application. Its power of innovation has allowed Mercedes-Benz to evolve into an automotive manufacturer with a unique and diverse product offering. Today, the brand with the star encompasses a range of vehicles that includes compact passenger cars, such as the A-Class, and luxury saloons, such as the S-Class; vans like the Sprinter; buses like the Citaro; and heavy-duty trucks such as the Actros. The smart brand adds to the product portfolio with a vehicle that is for many the perfect city runabout. Today’s smart fortwo dates back to a Mercedes-Benz study, presented in the early 1980s, into a “short-distance transport vehicle”. The two-seater concept vehicle was the starting point of a twin-track development that gave rise in the 1990s to the company’s first compact car: the
A-Class and the smart city coupé, the predecessor of today’s smart fortwo.
Time and time again, Mercedes-Benz has been at the forefront of new concepts of personal mobility and has also opened up entirely new market segments. For example, the SLK, which was unveiled in 1996, was the first compact premium roadster. This was followed one year later by the M-Class, the first premium SUV, which owed its development to experience gained by Mercedes engineers in connection with all-wheel drive technology for the legendary G-Class and the Unimog. The most recent example is the CLS, which in 2004 established the
segment of the four-door coupé. What is more, the sheer breadth of technical innovations to have first entered the marketplace in Mercedes models is proof that the inventor of the motor car has consistently played a leading role in all key aspects of the further development of this means of transport – from drive technology to safety and comfort through to design.
Mercedes-Benz engine technology: a driving force in all areas
Mercedes-Benz has been a pioneer in engine technology for 125 years. The high-speed petrol engine was, in the truest sense of the word, the “driving force” behind the invention of the motor car. The Daimler 8 hp “Phaeton”, unveiled in 1898, was the first road-going vehicle to feature a four-cylinder engine. In 1923 Benz launched the first diesel-engined truck. Another trendsetting Mercedes innovation was a diesel engine suitable for use in passenger cars, which was introduced in 1936: in the world’s first volume-produced diesel passenger car, the Mercedes-Benz 260 D.
In the years that have since followed, Mercedes-Benz has continued to set a succession of further milestones in the development of the compression-ignition engine. Numerous technological innovations, such as the common rail diesel (CDI) with turbocharger, have resulted in greater power and torque allied to better fuel economy and reduced exhaust emissions. Today, the brand with the star is present in all segments of the market with a range of models powered by quiet-running, high-torque and high-efficiency CDI engines which – based on their power output – consume up to ten times less fuel than the diesel pioneer of 1936.
BlueTEC: making the diesel as clean as the modern petrol engine
With BlueTEC, Mercedes-Benz has additionally developed a technology for effective reduction of diesel emissions, especially the emissions of nitrogen oxides. Up to 90 percent of NOx emissions in the exhaust gas are broken down into harmless nitrogen and water, making the diesel engine as clean as the modern petrol engine. Passenger cars with BlueTEC have been available from Mercedes-Benz since 2006, currently both in the E- and S-Class and also in the SUVs of the GL-, R- and M-Class.
Developed originally for Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles, BlueTEC made its debut in a Mercedes truck in 2005, after which it was adapted for application in passenger cars. This example illustrates one of the company’s particular strengths: in-house cross-sector technology transfer, which helps to ensure that innovations with great benefits for the customer are able to be implemented quickly and systematically across the entire product range.
Modern Mercedes-Benz engines with great future potential
The future potential of the internal-combustion engine is underscored by Mercedes-Benz with the 2010 launch of its new S 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY, the first five-litre car in the luxury class. The first four-cylinder engine in the over 60-year successful history of the S-Class – a highly efficient twin-turbocharged diesel – achieves a fuel consumption of just 5.7 litres per 100 kilometres in the NEDC (New European Driving Cycle). With CO2 emissions of 149 g/km, the S 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY is the first vehicle in its class to better the 150 gram mark.
From the first compressor engine to the modern direct-injection petrol engine
The inventor of the motor car has also played a key role in the development of the spark-ignition engine. Back in the early 1920s, the then Daimler Motor Company adapted mechanical supercharging, which had originally been developed for aircraft engines, for use in motor cars. Thanks to the compressor technology they embodied, the Mercedes 6/25 hp and 10/40 hp models offered greater power and higher efficiency than comparable naturally aspirated vehicles.
Mercedes-Benz installed the first series-produced four-stroke direct-injection petrol engine in its legendary 300 SL sports car of 1954. What served at that time above all to boost the power output is today used by Mercedes engineers, in combination with other measures, to increase the efficiency, i.e. to achieve a significant reduction in consumption while at the same time raising the power output.
The Mercedes-Benz strategy for the internal-combustion engine of today and tomorrow is: consistent use of direct injection in both petrol and diesel engines, downsizing, turbocharging, variable valve timing . And, with the introduction in autumn 2009 of the new four-cylinder turbocharged direct-injection petrol engine in the E-Class,
Mercedes-Benz set about putting this strategy into practice – from the four-cylinder through to the eight-cylinder engine and in all relevant model series. The result: high power output with good fuel economy and correspondingly low CO2 emissions.
BlueDIRECT: making the petrol engine as economical as the diesel
Efficiency at the highest level is the common hallmark of a generation of six- and eight-cylinder power units that were launched in 2010 in the S-Class, CL-Class and the new CLS. While each of the engines offers increased power and torque in comparison with its predecessor, fuel consumption – in the new CLS, for example – has been lowered by up to 25 percent. This means that, where fuel efficiency is concerned, the modern BlueDIRECT direct-injection petrol engines from Mercedes-Benz have moved a further step closer to their diesel counterparts. The increase in efficiency is due in part to a series of targeted BlueEFFICIENCY measures, especially the ECO start/stop function, which is already standard equipment in many models and which by mid-2011 will be made available by Mercedes-Benz across its entire product range in over 50 models.
Pioneer in alternative drive technologies
Mercedes-Benz was also quick off the mark in the field of alternative drive technologies. As early as 1906, Mercedes for the first time equipped passenger cars, trucks, buses and fire-fighting vehicles with battery-electric or hybrid drives. In the 1970s, development of the electric and hybrid drive was revived and intensively promoted.
Building on this unique wealth of experience, Mercedes-Benz has introduced a series of modern vehicles with alternative drives that point the way to an ultimately emission-free mode of mobility.
These include the S 400 HYBRID luxury saloon, unveiled in 2009, which was the first European-manufactured hybrid passenger car and also the first series-produced hybrid to feature advanced lithium-ion battery technology. Soon after that, Mercedes-Benz brought out three state-of-the-art electric cars in rapid succession: the A-Class E-CELL and the Vito E-CELL van with battery-electric drive as well as the fuel-cell-powered B-Class F-CELL. The company’s line-up of electric cars is rounded off by the smart fortwo electric drive, which has been heralded as a revolutionary new development in urban mobility with zero local emissions.
Safety: there’s a bit of Mercedes in every modern-day motor car
Nowhere in the world is there a manufacturer that has invested more in the development of automotive safety than Mercedes-Benz. For 70 years now, the safety experts at Mercedes have been systematically at work studying the causes of accidents, lessening their consequences and helping to avoid accidents. Mercedes’s comprehensive commitment is demonstrated by no fewer than three anniversaries in 2009: “70 years of safety development”, “50 years of the rigid passenger compartment” and “40 years of accident research”.
As far as passive safety is concerned, the focus is on affording the vehicle occupants the best possible protection in the event of an accident. An example of this is the rigid passenger compartment with crumple zones, which was patented by Mercedes-Benz in 1951 and went into series production for the first time in 1959 in the 220 S and 220 SE “Fintail models”. Seat belt and airbag are further examples of innovations that were introduced into series production by Mercedes-Benz as original solutions to real-world problems. Today, they are a self-evident part of the automotive experience of every motorist. That explains why it can be said that there’s a bit of Mercedes-Benz in every modern-day motor car.
Lessening the consequences of accidents – avoiding accidents entirely
Active safety is at the centre of efforts to reach the goal of accident-free driving. In pursuit of this goal, Mercedes-Benz has developed a number of innovations that are capable of lessening the severity of accidents or of preventing them entirely. The electronically controlled ABS and ESP® are Mercedes developments that have demonstrably contributed to a significant reduction in the frequency of accidents. Once again, these safety systems are today standard equipment in virtually all cars. The ABS anti-lock braking system was introduced in 1978 in the Series 116 S-Class, while the airbag was launched in 1981 in the Series 126 S-Class. Mercedes-Benz brought out the ESP® electronic stability program in 1995 in the Series 140 S-Class Coupé, before then gradually extending it to all model series.
Mercedes-Benz was the first car manufacturer in the world to unite active and passive safety features within this system, thereby further enhancing the degree of protection afforded to vehicle occupants. The launch of PRE-SAFE® in 2002 opened another new chapter in the history of automotive safety. Mercedes-Benz systematically bases its safety technology developments on what actually happens in accidents and also on the findings from its own in-house accident research activities. Innovative systems such as the Active Blind Spot Assist or ATTENTION ASSIST address typical causes of accidents such as lane-changing and driver fatigue.
Selected milestones in the history of Mercedes-Benz safety technology:
Ride comfort: a traditional Mercedes-Benz strength
Ride comfort is a traditional Mercedes strength. Wide track, long wheelbase and tailor-made chassis systems – this is the basis on which Mercedes-Benz has for over a century ensured a standard of comfort on long journeys that is typical of the brand. As early as 1931, Mercedes-Benz set an important milestone in terms of chassis technology with its 170 model, which was the first volume-produced passenger car to feature independent suspension on all four wheels (“swing axles”). This design made for an entirely new driving experience, which was significantly better at compensating for irregularities in the road surface, thereby reducing not only road roar but also tyre vibration.
Time and time again, Mercedes-Benz has been a trailblazer with trendsetting new designs, such as the single-joint swing axle, which was launched in 1954, and the diagonal swing axle, which was unveiled in 1968. Both designs combined improved driving safety with additionally enhanced ride comfort. Then, in 1961, new standards were set with the first air suspension system in the 300 SE luxury saloon. In late 1982, the multi-link rear suspension system in the new compact class caused a technological sensation. This revolutionary system allowed for optimal movement of the independently suspended rear wheels by means of five three-dimensionally arranged links on each wheel. The multi-link rear suspension system was subsequently extended to all Mercedes-Benz saloons, coupés, cabriolets and sports cars with rear-wheel drive and has been emulated by many other manufacturers.
AIRMATIC: air suspension for even greater driving pleasure
In 1998 a further technological innovation was to make its debut in the S-Class, with the traditional spring and damper system with coil springs and gas-pressurised shock absorbers being superseded by the electronically controlled AIRMATIC (Adaptive Intelligent Ride Control) with air suspension and ADS Adaptive Damping System. Automatic independent level control of each wheel, which is also part of the AIRMATIC, takes account of the road surface, driving style and laden state, thereby ensuring excellent ride comfort.
The most important recent innovations have included ABC Active Body Control, the world’s first actively controlled suspension system, which was unveiled by
Mercedes-Benz in 1991 in its C112 research vehicle and was introduced in the CL coupé in 1999. The system reduces body vibrations caused by bouncing and rolling movements when cornering or by pitching movements when braking. The ADVANCED AGILITY package made its debut in 2007, when it appeared first in the new C-Class. The package offers two shifting modes: Sport and Comfort. As part of these shifting programs, there is infinitely variable electronic control of the shock absorbers on each wheel.
PRE-SCAN: flying carpet on four wheels
Likewise in 2007, Mercedes-Benz unveiled the revolutionary PRE-SCAN chassis, which it presented in the F 700 research vehicle. The system can register road conditions in advance, react very sensitively to bumps and potholes and compensate for them more effectively than other chassis. The F 700 thus (almost) attains the comfort level of the proverbial “flying carpet”. The PRE-SCAN chassis uses two laser sensors in the headlights as “eyes”.
The MAGIC BODY CONTROL chassis that Mercedes-Benz presented in the autumn of 2010 is an advanced system that literally looks ahead – a highly sensitive stereo camera mounted on the windscreen, above the rear-view mirror, “observes” the road in front of the vehicle from two different perspectives, enabling the system to recognise uneven road surfaces in even greater detail. Fast on-board computers process all of the data in real-time and control the active ABC chassis, which can adjust the forces at each wheel separately. This allows the vehicle body’s movements to be largely compensated for, compared to today’s standard chassis.
Operating comfort: intelligent systems improve the driver’s physiological well-being
The principle of maximum possible simplicity and intuitiveness with regard to vehicle control dates back to the early days of the brand. Already in 1902, under the model designation “Mercedes Simplex”, new Mercedes models boasted the advances that had been made in terms of easier vehicle operation. For, at Mercedes-Benz, maximum comfort means much more than pleasant driving and high-quality features. All of our comfort solutions are intended to improve the driver’s condition and to consistently relieve driving strain by means of many individual measures that are painstakingly coordinated with one another. Operating comfort, ergonomics, air conditioning, low noise levels, handling properties and many other factors affect a driver’s condition behind the wheel, and thus also his or her ability to keep an overview of the traffic situation. After all, only a relaxed driver is also a safe driver.
Mercedes-Benz researchers have been investigating this complex topic, called “physiological well-being”, for many years, and Mercedes-Benz has consistently applied their findings to improve its series-production vehicles. As a result, it has been demonstrated that Mercedes drivers stay fit and focused for a longer time. Prime examples of the progress achieved in this field are the carefully designed, intuitive control and display concepts and the intelligent driving assistance systems, which turn the motor car into a partner that thinks along with the person behind the wheel.
Mercedes-Benz design: Design idiom developing through the interplay between tradition and a future-oriented approach
At Mercedes-Benz, design develops as a result of the interplay between the brand’s consciousness of tradition and its orientation towards the future. The aesthetic design of the motor car was decisively influenced by the “Lightning Benz”, which was unveiled in 1909, for the innovative design idiom of this record-breaking racing car was for the first time based on aerodynamic findings while at the same time radiating an air of supreme dynamism.
While masculine, powerfully modelled lines characterised the Mercedes-Benz models of the 1920s, from the beginning of the 1930s the design idiom switched gradually to gentler, flowing lines and rounded form elements. Highlights of this evolution were the 500 K from 1934 and its outwardly largely identical successor, the 540 K, which was launched in 1936. With their tailored forms and elegant, flowing lines, they were considered objects of perfect beauty.
1953: dawn of modern car design
In 1953 Mercedes-Benz stepped into the age of modernity with its 180 model. This saloon was characterised by its so-called three-box design – the third “box”, after front end and passenger compartment, being the luggage compartment. The self-supporting “unitary structure” not only impressed because of its increased stability and greater crashworthiness, but it was also significantly more modern in appearance. Compared with the traditional vehicle form with its pronounced wings, separate headlamps, side running boards and short rear overhang, the unitary-structure models also offered a number of practical advantages: a roomier interior, better visibility, a lower drag coefficient, reduced wind noise and a considerably larger luggage compartment.
Many outstanding Mercedes-Benz models have significantly influenced the design evolution of the motor car. Often described as a design icon, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL “gull-wing” embodied pedigree and class like no other car of its age. It remains to this day a highly sought-after dream car and in 1999 was voted “sports car of the century” by an international jury of car experts. The 300 SL was the first Mercedes-Benz road vehicle to sport a horizontal air inlet opening with the star in the middle. This new front section was to become the hallmark of all future SL touring sports cars.
Launched in 1959, the so-called 220, 220 S and 220 SE “Fintail models” also set new standards with their inimitable form, which united function with elegance. Known officially as “markers”, the tail fins were at once beautiful and also useful for parking and, in combination with the ample all-round visibility, anticipated the transformation in customer expectations.
Proven stylistic elements combined with new ideas
As model-specific characteristics of unmistakable brand identity, present-day Mercedes-Benz vehicles frequently exhibit stylistic details from the brand’s past. These include, for example, the curving lines of the current E-Class family, which are reminiscent of the unitary-structure models of the 1950s; or the fins and lateral ventilation openings on the SL, the basic form of which likewise dates back to the 1950s. These classic elements, however, are in all cases reinterpreted with a contemporary look. In this way, Mercedes-Benz consistently steers clear of fashionable, often short-lived retro trends. Rather, the designers at Mercedes-Benz seek to emphasize the rich heritage of the company’s car models by combining proven stylistic elements of the brand with new ideas, thereby continuously evolving the design.
Mercedes-Benz pursues a long-term design strategy, which guarantees that a Mercedes is always recognisable as a Mercedes. In this endeavour, the designers at Mercedes employ a sophisticated design idiom in which elements that make a vehicle recognisable at first sight as a Mercedes-Benz are combined with a distinct design philosophy typical of each particular model series, which leads to each vehicle having its own unique character. For example, the SUV models are clearly different from the saloons, coupés and sports cars.
The final outcome is an attractive blend of visual distinctiveness and unmistakable brand identity, the Mercedes-Benz design idiom remaining alive in every detail – modern, but never ‘trendy’.
The same principle applies to interior design and is systematically put into practice at Mercedes-Benz. Depending on the character of the vehicle, material qualities, forms and stylistic elements are developed and executed in a manner specific to the model series and each particular model, with, once again, individuality and overall harmony being given clear priority over overarching uniformity. Interior design, which is becoming an increasingly important part of overall vehicle design, today contributes more than ever to keeping alive the fascination of beauty for years to come. A car’s interior is seen as a living space in which the owner spends a lot of time.
Typical design idiom of the Mercedes-Benz brand – given a new interpretation
A preview of Mercedes-Benz’s future design idiom is afforded by the F 800 Style research vehicle, which is technology vehicle and design statement in one. The vehicle’s external appearance is characterized by its long wheelbase, short body overhangs and sensually flowing roof line. The exciting coupé-like side view, allied to the balanced proportions, results in a stylishly sporty appearance which further develops the Mercedes-Benz design idiom.
Room for creative thinking
Creativity has been written large for 125 years at the inventor of the motor car. German engineering and Swabian inventiveness have created a brand icon of world standing. The company promotes creativity by making room for free thinking and working, thereby guaranteeing that the source of innovation will never run dry.
In order to maintain its innovative edge, the company has established a global knowledge network to which employees from research and development contribute their know-how from a wide range of different disciplines. Last year, the company was able to retain its position as the premium car manufacturer with the most patent applications. Over half the total of 2070 filed applications relate to “green” technologies, as many as 720 of which concern the drive system (35 percent). Significant progress has been achieved above all in the fields of energy efficiency and exhaust-gas aftertreatment as well as fuel-cell and battery technology. By continuing to invest heavily in research and development, the company is laying the foundations for further maintaining its high standard of innovation over the long term.
Mercedes-Benz: the most valuable luxury brand in the world
Thanks to its systematic innovation strategy, Mercedes-Benz occupies a leading position in the league table of the world’s most valuable brands. This is backed up by the latest 2010 international studies, which confirm the special position held by the brand with the star in no fewer than three categories: “most valuable German brand”, “most valuable global premium car brand” and “most valuable global luxury brand”.
“Nothing but the best” – yesterday, today and in future
It was Carl Benz who said: “The love of inventing never dies”. And it was Gottlieb Daimler who came up with the famous maxim “The best or nothing”. Mercedes-Benz has remained true to these guiding principles for almost 125 years. The spirit of innovation, one of the key driving forces, is firmly rooted in our corporate culture – forever with the goal of guaranteeing personal mobility also for future generations and providing each individual customer with the optimal vehicle for their individual needs. This innovation is founded on Mercedes-Benz’s systematic research activities, which led at the beginning of the 1970s to the official establishment of a separate research department. Today, Mercedes-Benz has at its disposal a global knowledge network with some 19,000 researchers and developers around the world – an interdisciplinary think tank, full of pioneering spirit, expertise and motivation, for continuing in future to make the best cars in the world.
The first weekend of November hosts a firm fixture in the international classic car calendar: the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run in England. At the 2010 event, held on 7 November, Mercedes-Benz Classic will be entering two vehicles – a 1902 Mercedes-Simplex racing car and a 1904 Mercedes-Simplex touring car.
The 2010 event will take place just a couple of months before celebrations get underway to mark the 125th anniversary of the birth of the automobile in January 2011. Not long after Carl Benz invented the first automobile in 1886, automotive design took the decisive step from what was essentially a motorised carriage to something resembling the modern vehicle – of which the Mercedes-Simplex cars are two outstanding examples.
The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is held exclusively for vehicles built before 1904. The oldest car to enter this year’s event dates from 1894. The annual event marks the Emancipation Run of 14 November 1896, which was organised in celebration of a new law that raised the maximum permitted speed for automobiles from walking pace of 6.4 km/h (4 miles per hour) to 22.4 km/h (16 miles per hour). The new law also abolished the requirement that vehicles be preceded by a man waving a red flag.
This year the annual event, held over a 96-kilometre (60-mile) course, has attracted 550 vehicle entries. As many as 500,000 spectators are expected to line the route. The start is in London’s Hyde Park, where the first of the vehicles will depart at sunrise, calculated by the Meteorological Office to be at 7.04 a.m. this year. From there, the cars will head to a checkpoint in Crawley, before setting out on the second half of the route towards the Channel coast and the finishing line on Brighton’s grand promenade, Madeira Drive.
All vehicles will take part in an eve-of-event concours from 11.00 a.m. until 3.00 p.m. on London’s Regent Street on Saturday, 6 November 2010, when each car will be individually introduced and spectators will have an opportunity for closer inspection.
Mercedes-Simplex: the modern automobile
The two Mercedes-Benz Classic cars taking part come from the company’s own collection. From 1901 to 1905, Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft created a range of automobiles bearing the Simplex designation at Stuttgart-Untertürkheim. These vehicles had two things in common: they were all designed by Wilhelm Maybach, and they were superior to all other cars of the day. For they embodied the decisive design step that elevated them from motorised carriage to purpose-built car.
The most notable technical features of the Mercedes-Simplex were its four-cylinder, front-mounted engine with cylinders cast in pairs, the U-section pressed steel frame, a low centre of gravity, honeycomb radiator and inclined steering column. These features are what lent the vehicle the familiar car-like appearance that distinguished it from contemporary carriage-type automobiles. Along with the 38/40 hp Mercedes-Simplex, the 28/32 hp was the more compact automobile.
Technical data for the 38/40 hp Mercedes-Simplex racing car
Technical data for the 28/32 hp Mercedes-Simplex touring car
On January 29, 1886, Carl Benz received the patent for the world’s very first car. It was on that day that the one of the most significant inventions to grace the earth, the automobile, was born. In 2011, the automobile will celebrate 125 years on the road and the only place to view its’ entire 125 year history is at The Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. In addition to the automobiles history, the museum also shows off the latest developments of the present and future. The latter will be exhibited in a completely redesigned room from next year: Legend 6, ‘New start – the Road to Emission-free Mobility’, which will be opening its doors to Museum visitors for the first time on January 30, 2011.
Visitors to the museum often ask the same questions- Where do we go from here? Will we all be driving on hydrogen in future? Will the combustion engine soon be a thing of the past? “In Legend 6 visitors will find answers to questions about the drive system of tomorrow”, says Michael Bock, Head of Mercedes-Benz Classic. On the chronological tour through the decades, Legend 6 ‘New start – the Road to Emission-free Mobility’ will present the challenges of the present and future. “Our visitors mostly want to find out how driving pleasure and responsibility can be reconciled in a vehicle.” Different drive-system variants will be on display in the redesigned theme room – from the optimised combustion engine through electric and hybrid drive systems to the fuel cell.
The Mercedes-Benz Museum brings to life all aspects of automotive history over an area covering 16,500 square metres and nine levels. Seven Legend rooms describe the history of the brand, five Collection rooms important topics at Mercedes-Benz through the years. Many of the 160 vehicles exhibited stand for entire eras that they have shaped, recounting their own history. These include the gull-wing model from the 1950s or the Silver Arrows, not to mention the Mercedes-Benz 230 SL, the first sports car with a stable passenger compartment and crumple zone. “These vehicles were symbols of innovation in their day; again and again they would herald further progress. Our visitors soon realise that the history of Mercedes-Benz is brimming with innovations and that the focus was always firmly on the future – just as it is today”, adds Michael Bock.
The Mercedes-Benz Museum is open daily from Tuesday to Sunday between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Current information for visitors is available from the Classic customer center online at www.mercedes-benz-classic.com
There are quite a number of automotive legends – most of them already covered by the dust of history, not so the Mercedes-Benz Unimog. Launched during the hard times immediately after the end of World War II, the indestructible Unimog has long since become one of the living legends in automotive engineering. The Unimog holds its ground in the face of assignments under the most arduous conditions, changing economic settings and changing customer groups. Small wonder: the Unimog copes with extremely difficult ground, pulls complete goods trains, can be used as a road/railer and features attachment points for a large variety of implements.
Hard-working jack-of-all-trades right from the start
The Unimog has proved itself as a hard-working jack-of-all-trades anywhere in the world for many decades. What has remained is its basic design concept: enormous versatility for assignments of virtually all kinds, superior off-road mobility thanks to its all-wheel drive, portal gear axles and differential locks front and rear, a compact cab, outstanding robustness and the possibility of attaching a multitude of working implements.
First drafts as early as 1945
The first drafts of an agricultural vehicle, made by Albert Friedrich who had previously been Head of Aeroengine Design at Daimler-Benz, date back to the autumn of 1945. Friedrich assembled a committed team of development engineers and won over Messrs. Erhard & Sons in Göppingen, Germany, as development partners. Large-scale production began in 1948 at the mechanical engineering factory of Messrs. Boehringer in Schwäbisch Gmünd. Since high investments had to be made to reach economically viable production volumes, the project was taken over by Daimler-Benz in the autumn of 1950 – production in the Gaggenau plant started in 1951.
From 1953, the Unimog was decorated with the Mercedes star; in the same year, a fully enclosed cab complemented the previous version with folding top. Two years later, the Unimog S set out on its impressive career: it was soon highly popular among armed forces and, later on, also among civilian users, particularly among globetrotters and members of expedition. Produced until 1980, it became the bestseller in Unimog history.
Additional series to meet rising demands
As requirements became more demanding and diversified, Daimler-Benz expanded the Unimog range by the larger 406 series from 1963. In 1972, Daimler-Benz resumed the original idea of an agricultural vehicle – and for many years, the Unimog was joined by the MB-trac agricultural tractor. Only two years later, the first units from the 425 series – heavy-duty Unimogs for particularly demanding tractor work – came off the assembly lines.
From 1985, Daimler-Benz replaced the entire Unimog range in several steps. A few years later, the top-of-the-range Unimog U 2450 L 6×6 was launched, a three-axle vehicle with an impressive engine output of 177 kW (240 hp). From 1992, the company offered the new lightweight and medium-duty 408 and 419 series, which were particularly suitable for municipal work. Shortly afterwards, the Funmog – a conspicuously designed and elegantly equipped Unimog, which also cut a fine figure outside the disco in the evening – assumed the status of a cult vehicle. The small UX 100, a compact implement carrier, predominantly appealed to municipal authorities from 1996.
Into the future with the new U 300 – U 500 series
The new Unimog U 300, U 400 und U 500 available since 2000 are also tailored to municipal work. The vehicles combine spectacular looks with a practical as well as attractively designed cab made of fibre composite materials, a driver’s workplace called VarioPilot that can be moved from left to right and back again within seconds, a new VarioPower high-performance hydraulic system and engines with output ratings up to 205 kW (280 hp) – the new Unimog for the new millennium can do even more than any of its predecessors and meets the most diverse demands of a heterogeneous clientele.
Complete Unimog range
In the early sixties, the small basic Unimog alone was no longer capable of meeting the growing demands and covering the ever more diversified range of assignments. The Unimog S, first and foremost a military vehicle, was not always the right alternative for civilian applications, even though it was available in finishes other than olive green. Therefore, the company launched a medium-duty series with the designation 406 in 1963. The wheelbase of this new, additional Mercedes-Benz Unimog was 2380 millimetres long.
Opening up new dimensions: the 406 series
At the same time, larger diesel engines were for the first time installed under the Unimog’s short bonnet: 65 hp generated from four cylinders and a little later even from the legendary, large-volume OM 312 six-cylinder diesel engine with a displacement of 5.7 litres – setting a new standard in performance. With reference to its hp rating, the new Unimog became known as the U 65. With the additional 406 series, Daimler-Benz complemented the Unimog range by a genuine jack-of-all-trades for use on and off the road, permitting completely new applications, for instance as a versatile tractor.
406 series rapidly joined by additional model series
In 1966, the company restructured the Unimog range. The small Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 34 was joined by the medium-duty 406 series with the U 70 model, which, at a later stage, developed into the U 80 and U 84 as engine output increased – figures relating to engine output in hp in each case. Parallel to this, Daimler-Benz introduced the 416 series with 2900 millimetre wheelbase corresponding to the Unimog S. The series initially consisted of the U 80 which developed over the years into U 90, U 100 and finally into the powerful U 110.
In addition, Daimler-Benz introduced the lightweight 421/403 series, complemented at a later stage by the 413 series, to fill the gap between the original Unimog and the medium-duty series. These new series differed in terms of their wheelbase lengths and their engines, which were adopted from the car range (421 series/U 40 with 2.2 litre displacement) as well as from the commercial vehicle range (403 series/U 54 with 3.8 litre displacement). The output ratings of these models, too, rose continuously until the renewal of the range in 1977.
Unimog complemented by a specialist farm tractor: the MB-trac
This rapid progress in model policy, which may not have been easily comprehensible at all times, resulted in another anniversary: production of the 100,000th Unimog in May 1966. During its career over almost 20 years, the Unimog had developed magnificently ever since the days the first chassis prototype had been completed. It had long since acquired a legendary offroader reputation throughout the world. As successful as the Unimog may have been, it was only rarely used in agriculture. To cover this market segment, Daimler-Benz therefore launched an additional vehicle in 1972: the MB-trac.
The new agricultural tractor combined Unimog engineering, including all-wheel drive and power transmission to four equal-sized wheels, with the looks of a tractor: a long and very narrow bonnet and behind it an angular, high-rising driver’s cab. Contrary to conventional tractors, however, the cab was located between the axles and fully enclosed.
Within just a few years, the initial MB-trac 65 and MB-trac 70 (later 700) models developed into a broad series right up to the extremely powerful MB-trac 1500. In spite of this, the MB-trac failed to become a great hit. Daimler-Benz eventually integrated the MB-trac in a joint venture with the agricultural machinery unit of Deutz. Production of the MB-trac was discontinued in 1991.
425 series: the new, big Unimog
The next new Unimog series emerged in 1974, two years after the MB-trac. Large-scale production began in 1975: the U 120 from the 425 series was the heavy-duty top model in the range of versatile tractors and working machines from Daimler-Benz. Its conspicuous features included a new, angular cab and a large bonnet set at a flat angle. The latter ended in a large-surfaced, black radiator grille. This cab design has basically remained unchanged for the last 25 years.
The 425 series initially included a 120 hp model (boosted shortly afterwards to 125 hp in the U 125) with 2810 millimetre wheelbase and a permissible gross weight of nine tonnes. Also in 1975, production of the 435 series as the successor to the Unimog S began for the German armed forces; these vehicles had wheelbase lengths of 3250, 3700 or even 3850 millimetres. From 1976, the 424 series fitted into the range somewhat further down below.
New model designations to create a clear structure
At about the same time, Daimler-Benz introduced new model designations. The models with the rounded, meanwhile classic shapes were the Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 600/L, U 800/L, U 900 and U 1100/L. New angular shapes were the hallmark of the Unimog U 1000, U 1300/L, U 1500 and the flagship, the U 1700/L with 124 kW (168 hp) engine. The letter “L” indicated the long-wheelbase version – the majority of models were meanwhile available in two wheelbase lengths.
The Unimogs with rounded cabs belonged to the lightweight series, the new models with angular cabs made up the medium-duty and heavy-duty series, the division being made on the grounds of permissible gross weight. Several engines were available for different series – the Unimog designation system was not easy to understand. And finally, the range was still complemented, though in declining numbers, by the tried-and-tested Unimog S, the only one with a petrol engine.
Disc brakes in Unimogs long before their introduction in trucks
Clearly more easily understandable were the technical highlights: with the exception of the bottom-of-the-range model, all Mercedes-Benz Unimogs were fitted with disc brakes all round at the time the new model designations were introduced – long before this safety equipment became state of the art in trucks. The efforts of the Unimog people to give every customer the model he or she needed paid off in the form of another record figure: in 1977, the 200,000th Unimog was produced.
Complete renewal with the 407, 417 and 427 series
In the following years, the Unimog range remained largely constant. But then, between 1985 and 1988, new models were again launched one after the other: Daimler-Benz completely replaced the entire range by the 407, 417, 427 and 437 series. The cab from the medium-duty and heavy-duty series was now also used for the lightweight models. New wheelbase lengths, dimensions, weights, chassis and engines under the cabs’ sheet metal skins resulted in completely new vehicles.
After this renewal, the range was larger than ever before, extending from the lightweight, particularly easily manoeuvrable Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 600 with an output of 44 kW (60 hp) and a gross weight of 4.5 tonnes via countless versions – the result of further expansion in the early nineties – to the three-axle U 2400. Its engine developed a new record output of 177 kW (240 hp) from a displacement of six litres. The two-axle version’s permissible gross weight was 14 tonnes.
Output increased almost tenfold since the beginning
From 1993, the range was rounded off at the top end by the Unimog U 2450 L 6×6, a three-axle unit with all-wheel drive. The people who had developed the first Unimog more than 40 years earlier would certainly not have dared dreaming of such models – if anything, a comparison of engine output is worth its while: from the first Unimog to the new top model, it had increased almost tenfold.
Completely new series for new customers
Shortly after the renewal of the Unimog range between 1985 and 1988, Daimler-Benz started a new innovation drive in 1992. New lightweight and medium-duty series, the 408 (U 90) and 418 (U 110, U 140), replaced their still rather youthful predecessors. Their most conspicuous feature was the completely redesigned cab, with a front section set at a very steep angle to provide the driver with an excellent view of the area ahead of the vehicle. On request, the bonnet even featured an asymmetrical cutaway section on the driver’s side, permitting the best possible view of connections and mounted implements. The Unimog’s handling and ride were improved by a new frame and progressively acting coil springs.
The tried-and-tested ladder-type frame was retained, with tubular cross members welded into the longitudinal members. This design of frame allowed for extreme torsion, yet the ensemble as a whole was remarkably rigid. In conjunction with the suspension, therefore, it offered excellent offroad wheel-load distribution. At the same time, whether laden or unladen, the progressively acting coil springs provided constant and optimally adjusted suspension quality. In addition, the rear telescopic shock absorbers operated using a load- and path-dependent characteristic curve, resulting in reduced damping of the vehicle when empty.
Clearly more space, comfort and practicality
The completely redesigned cab with its raised roof provided substantially more space than before, clearly laid out controls and, not least, an appealing working environment. The new Mercedes-Benz Unimog’s special technical features included a tyre pressure control system that could be operated on the move, the anti-lock braking system, new engines from the car range for the lightweight U 90 as well as Servolock, a unit for hydraulically locking working implements. The new Unimog generation not only expressed individuality and great practicality in its looks, with its diversified range of applications, it also recommended itself for an ever more important group of buyers: municipal authorities.
Pulling up outside the disco in the Funmog
A very different group of customers emerged temporarily: the Mercedes-Benz Unimog had been discovered as a disco-mobile in Japan – the old battlehorse with its advanced engineering, a died-in-the-wool commercial vehicle, was all of a sudden a big hit among youngsters. Daimler-Benz reacted by launching Funmogs, an impressive, pitch-black Unimog from the heavy-duty series and a red-metallic one from the new medium-duty series. Both featured plenty of chrome trim. The attractive Funmogs promptly won the “Offroader of the Year” award in the spring of 1994. The indestructible nature of the evergreen from Gaggenau was also reflected by the production figures: in the same year, Unimog production exceeded the 300,000 mark – a very high figure for a special-purpose vehicle.
UX100 – the little one for municipal authorities
Two years later, in 1996, Daimler-Benz 1996 expanded the range by the addition of an implement carrier for municipal authorities, the UX100. This small Unimog was a slim and easily manoeuvrable vehicle, suitable for work on walkways and in parks. However, the Unimog’s little brother did not generate big business. Within the framework of its concentration on core competencies, Daimler-Benz transferred the smart UX100 to Hako, a company specialising on vehicles of this type and size. Nevertheless, the Unimog engineers adopted quite a few ideas from the UX100 project for future vehicles.
Spectacular: Unimog U 300, U 400 and U 500
The company had meanwhile been preparing for another renewal of the Mercedes-Benz Unimog range. In the spring of the spectacular year 2000, the company presented new, equally spectacular Unimog models: the U 300, U 400 and, a little later, the U 500 (408/418 series) replaced the previous medium-duty and heavy-duty series. With this model replacement, the Unimog received more advanced technology in one go than ever before in its long career. A particularly conspicuous feature is the highly advanced, practical and at the same time extremely appealing cab made of fibre composites. The huge windscreen extends far down, permitting a perfect view of all connections and implements – the latter can now be mounted effortlessly in one-man operation.
Engine fitted between the axles
The bonnet is extremely short because the engine has been moved backwards to a location between the axles. You could say that this Unimog incorporates an idea of its inventor, Albert Friedrich, who had sketched in the engine in a similar position in one of his first drawings in 1946.
VarioPilot: moving the driver’s place to the other side
The all-new cab incorporates not only plenty of space and highly comfortable appointments but also an idea the engineers adopted from the UX100 project and refined it: the driver’s workplace, complete with steering wheel, gauges and pedals can be moved from the left to the right-hand side and back in next to no time. What sells under the name VarioPilot proves to be an extremely practical feature for the different applications in municipal work. A broad range with wheelbase lengths between 3080 and 3900 millimetres and permissible gross weights from 7.5 to 15.5 tonnes underlines the Unimog’s flexibility and performance more than ever before. For special applications, for instance tractor operation, the Mercedes-Benz Unimog is available with special equipment, including a torque converter and clutch unit or remote control with cable.
New emphasis: implement carrier for municipal work
Both the design of the new Mercedes-Benz Unimog and its features underline that it is clearly oriented to the spectrum of the 408/418 series. It is still a near-perfect offroader, but its emphasis is on implement carrier work. Other features of the new Unimog: permanent all-wheel drive, electro-pneumatic Telligent gearshift, the new VarioPower high-performance hydraulic system and new, extremely powerful engines with output ratings between 110 kW (150 hp) and 205 kW (280 hp) and complying with the EURO 3 emission standards. And those still looking for a classic Mercedes-Benz Unimog with a focus on extreme off-road capabilities will continue to be served for the time being by current model series.
Rudolf Caracciola was born on 30 January 1901 in Remagen Germany. As a boy he was fascinated by cars, gathered first experience at the wheel of an “elderly 16/45 Mercedes” during the First World War and made up his mind to become a racing driver. When still a trainee at the Fafnir-Automobilwerke in Aachen, he started in the 1922 Avus race in Berlin (fourth place overall and winner in class) and the Opelbahn race in Rüsselsheim (winner). After a scuffle with an officer of the Belgian occupying forces, Caracciola left Aachen and became a Fafnir representative in Dresden. In 1923 he won the Berlin ADAC (the principal German automobile club) race driving an Ego.
In 1923 Caracciola joined Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft as a car salesman at its Dresden sales outlet. He was allowed to enter races with the current Mercedes 6/25/40 hp racing car. The successes he notched up included victory in the touring car class of the 1923 ADAC Reichsfahrt rally. In 1924 he was winner in his class on several occasions and secured overall victory in the Teutoburgerwald race. That was the year he also met his future wife, Charlotte, nicknamed Charly.
In 1925 Caracciola won eight races at the wheel of the Mercedes 24/100/140 hp. In 1926 he won the German Grand Prix in a Mercedes eight-cylinder racing car. It was in this race that he first drew attention to his brilliant driving skills in adverse weather conditions; the victory was a textbook lesson in fingertip control by the “Rainmaster”, as he later came to be known. The prize money gave Caracciola economic security. He married Charly and in January 1927 opened up a Mercedes-Benz agency in Berlin, although he continued to compete in races.
In 1927 Caracciola won the race in which the new 26/170/225 hp Mercedes-Benz S model racing touring car premiered at the Nürburgring. That year he also went on to chalk up eleven overall and class wins. In 1928 Caracciola won five races in the successor model, the Mercedes-Benz SS, and he continued his winning form in the new racing tourer, the 27/180/250 hp SSK model. With the SSK he also opened the 1929 race season for Mercedes-Benz in the Monaco Grand Prix (third place). Caracciola won the International Tourist Trophy in Ireland in a Mercedes-Benz SSK in pouring rain at an average speed of 117.2 km/h.
Winner in Italy
Caracciola finished the 1930 Mille Miglia first in his class. The following year he won the race, the first foreign starter ever to do so, in a 27/240/300 hp Mercedes-Benz SSKL racing sports car. After a 16-hour drive from Brescia to Rome and back he and co-driver Wilhelm Sebastian finally crossed the finish line on 13 April 1931 as winners, posting an average speed of 101.1 km/h. In 1931 Caracciola also won the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring – another rain-affected race – and again captured the title of European Sports Car Hillclimb Champion.
When Mercedes-Benz withdrew from racing, Caracciola went to Alfa Romeo. In the 2.6-litre monoposto he won the German and Monza Grand Prix and the 1932 Eifel race. He became European Racing Car Hillclimb Champion and International Alpine Champion. Then in 1933 Caracciola and Louis Chiron set up the independent “Scuderia C.C.”, but he suffered a serious accident during practice for the Grand Prix of Monaco. This forced him to pull out of his racing appearances for the entire year. That winter his wife was killed in an avalanche.
Daimler-Benz signed Caracciola again for the 1934 season. For the new 750-kilogram formula the Stuttgart company launched the W 25 racing car, the first Silver Arrow. At the Italian Grand Prix on 9 April, Caracciola was still troubled by the effects of the injuries sustained in his accident; in first place after 59 laps, he let Luigi Fagioli replace him at the wheel, and Fagioli brought the victory safely home. At the Spanish Grand Prix on
23 September, Caracciola managed a second-place finish. New competition for Mercedes-Benz arrived in the form of Auto Union. These two racing departments would dominate the championship in the coming years.
In 1935, after a long race in sweltering heat, Caracciola won the Grand Prix of Tripoli. This was followed by victories in the Eifel race (16 June) and at the Grand Prix of France (23 June), Belgium (14 July), Switzerland (25 August) and Spain (22 September). A second-place finish in the Grand Prix of Barcelona (30 June) and third place in the German Grand Prix (28 July) rounded off the year. In 1935 he was European and German racing car champion. Mercedes-Benz won nine out of 14 grand prix events that season, with Caracciola accounting for six of them.
His string of successes came to an end in 1936. Although Caracciola opened the season with a victory in Monaco (13 April) – in poor weather he once again demonstrated that his reputation as “Rainmaster” was entirely justified – the redesigned W 25 with short wheelbase increasingly caused problems. “Caratsch” posted his best results subsequent to Monaco at the Grand Prix of Tunis
(17 May, winner), Barcelona (7 June, second) and Tripoli (10 May, fourth). At the German Grand Prix Caracciola and co-pilot Luigi Fagioli could manage only fifth. The star of that season was Bernd Rosemeyer, who won the European championship for Auto Union.
In 1937 Caracciola returned to the pinnacle of European motorsport. The 750 kg formula was extended for another year, and Daimler-Benz developed the new
W 125 racing car specifically for this season. In the monoposto Caracciola secured his second European Championship title. His racing successes that season included victories at the German (25 July), Swiss (22 August) and Italian (12 September) Grand Prix and the Masaryk Grand Prix of Brno (26 September). In addition, Caracciola notched up successes in the international Eifel race (13 June, second place), the German Hillclimb Grand Prix (1 August, third place), in Monaco (8 August, second place) and the Donington Grand Prix (2 October, second place). He was European Champion and also secured the title of German Road Racing Champion.
In the open-formula Avus race in Berlin on 30 May, Mercedes-Benz competed with different vehicle concepts, including three W 25 fitted with aerodynamic fairings. Caracciola won the first race of the competition driving one of these streamlined cars. He married Alice Hoffmann that year.
Record-breaking runs into new dimensions of speed
In January 1938 record-breaking attempts were back on the agenda. Over past years, Caracciola had set several records on autobahns and oval circuits. This time on the Frankfurt-Darmstadt autobahn he attained a speed of 432.7 km/h. To this day it is the highest speed ever attained on a public road. It was a record marred by tragedy, however, since his friend and rival Bernd Rosemeyer would die in an attempt to break Caracciola’s record in an Auto Union car.
A new formula was drawn up for the 1938 races that limited displacement to 4.5 litres without supercharger and 3 litres with supercharger. Daimler-Benz designed the new W 154 racing car for this “3-litre formula”; it developed a maximum output of 453 hp from its V12 engine. In 1938 Caracciola won the Coppa Acerbo (14 August) as well as the Swiss Grand Prix (21 August). He placed second or third in the Grand Prix of Pau (10 April, with Hermann Lang, second), Tripoli (15 May, third), the French Grand Prix
(3 July, second), the German (24 July, with Hermann Lang, second) and Italian Grand Prix (11 September, with Manfred von Brauchitsch, third). Now 37, Caracciola won the title of European Champion for the third time and consolidated his reputation as the most successful racing driver of the era.
In the Grand Prix of Tripoli, for which Daimler-Benz specially developed the 1.5-litre voiturette W 165, Caracciola took second place behind Hermann Lang – a double victory for the Silver Arrows. But the premier racing car of the season was the redesigned W 154, with which Caracciola won the German Grand Prix on 23 July. In 1939 he was German road racing champion; however, the European title that year was captured by the promising young talent, Lang.
Alice and Rudolf Caracciola lived through the Second World War in their adoptive country Switzerland. Caracciola was intent on racing in America after the war ended. However, in 1946 his car crashed during practice for the Indianapolis 500. In 1952 he actively resumed racing and finished the Mille Miglia in fourth position in a
Mercedes-Benz 300 SL. But a serious accident during the Grand Prix of Berne in 1952 put an end to his career for good. Caracciola was dependent on a wheelchair and crutches for a long time afterwards.
In 1956 he was given responsibility for the sale of Daimler-Benz cars to Americans and Britons stationed in continental Europe. Aged just 58, Rudolf Caracciola died in Kassel on 28 September 1959. A monument was unveiled in Remagen to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth in 2001, and the banked curve at the Nürburgring was named after him.
Rudolf Caracciola – a racing career for Mercedes-Benz
1901
30 January: born in Remagen, Germany
1922
June: Avus race, Berlin, in 6 hp Fafnir (4th and winner in class)
July: Opelbahn race, Rüsselsheim, in 6 hp Fafnir (1st place)
1923
3 April: Berlin Stadium race in 4 hp Ego (1st place)
11 June: Job with Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) as salesman at Dresden office
4 July: Baden-Baden Automobile Tournament in a 6/25/40 hp Mercedes (2nd place)
5 July: ADAC Reichsfahrt in a 6/25/40 hp Mercedes (1st place)
1924
25 May: Teutoburgerwald race in a supercharged Mercedes 1.5 litre (1st place)
10-19 August: ADAC Reichsfahrt in a supercharged Mercedes 1.5 litre (1st place)
1925
24 July: Kniebis hillclimb in a 24/100/140 hp Mercedes (1st place)
15-16 August: Freiburg hillclimb and flat race in a 24/100/140 hp Mercedes (1st place/touring cars)
1926
16 March: Teutoburgerwald race in a 24/100/140 hp Mercedes (1st place/factory drivers)
30 May: Herkules hillclimb in a 24/100/140 hp Mercedes (1st place/sports cars)
9-13 June: Baden-Baden Automobile Tournament in a 24/100/140 hp Mercedes (winner in sports car and touring car categories)
19-28 June: South German Rally in a 24/100/140 hp Mercedes (1st place/sports cars)
11 July: German Grand Prix in a Mercedes 8-cylinder racing car (1st place)
22 July: Grand Prix of Europe and Grand Prix of Guipuzcoa in a 24/100/140 hp Mercedes (2nd place)
7-8 August: International Klausen Pass race in a Mercedes K (1st place/sports cars)
1927
January: Opens Mercedes-Benz dealership in Berlin
19 June: Inaugural race at the Nürburgring in a Mercedes-Benz S (1st place)
23-30 June: Kartellfahrt race of the AvD automobile club in a
8/38 hp Mercedes-Benz (without penalty points)
5-9 July: Baden-Baden Automobile Tournament in a Mercedes-Benz S (winner in sports car category)
6-7 August: International Freiburg Speed Record Festival in a Mercedes-Benz S (3rd and 1st place)
13-14 August: Klausen Pass race in a Mercedes-Benz S (winner in sports car and touring car categories)
25 September: Teutoburgerwald race in a Mercedes-Benz S (1st place/sports cars)
1928
15 July: German Grand Prix at Nürburgring in a Mercedes-Benz SS (1st place, with Christian Werner)
29 July: Gabelbach race in a Mercedes-Benz SSK (1st place)
5 August: ADAC race at Schauinsland in a Mercedes-Benz SSK (1st place/racing cars)
26 August: Chamonix hillclimb in a Mercedes-Benz SSK (1st place)
10 September: Salzberg race (1st place/racing cars)
16 September: Semmering hillclimb (1st place/racing cars)
1929
16 April: Monaco Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz SSK (3rd place)
19-23 June: Baden-Baden Automobile Tournament in a Mercedes-Benz SSK (winner in racing car category)
7-12 August: International Alpine Rally in a Mercedes-Benz Nürburg (1st place)
17 August: International Tourist Trophy in Belfastin a Mercedes-Benz SSK (1st place)
1930
12-13 April: Mille Miglia in a Mercedes-Benz SSK (winner in class)
12 July: Shelsley-Walsh hillclimb in a Mercedes-Benz SSK (1st place/sports cars)
18-19 July: Irish Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz SSK (1st place)
9-10 August: Klausen Pass race in a Mercedes-Benz SSK (1st place/sports cars)
24. August: Mont Ventoux hillclimb in a Mercedes-Benz SSK (1st place)
8 September: Grand Prix of Monza in a Mercedes-Benz SSK (2nd place/sports cars)
European Hillclimb Champion 1930
1931
12-13 April: Mille Miglia in a Mercedes-Benz SSKL (1st place)
17 May: Hillclimb near Rabassada in a Mercedes-Benz SSKL (1st place)
31 May: Königsaal-Jilowischt hillclimb in a Mercedes-Benz SSKL (1st place)
7 June: Eifel race in a Mercedes-Benz SSKL (1st place)
19 July: German Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz SSKL (1st place)
2 August: Avus race in a Mercedes-Benz SSKL (1st place)
16 August: Tatra hillclimb race in a Mercedes-Benz SSKL (1st place)
30 August: Mont Ventoux hillclimb in a Mercedes-Benz SSKL (1st place)
20 September: Drei Hotter hillclimb in a Mercedes-Benz SSKL (1st place)
European Hillclimb Champion 1931
1932
17 April: Monaco Grand Prix in an Alfa Romeo (2nd place)
22 May: Avus race in an Alfa Romeo (2nd place)
30 May: Eifel race in an Alfa Romeo (1st place)
16 July: German Grand Prix in an Alfa Romeo (1st place)
7 August: Klausen Pass race in an Alfa Romeo (1st place)
4 September: Mont Ventoux hillclimb in an Alfa Romeo (1st place)
11. September: Grand Prix of Monza in an Alfa Romeo (1st place)
European Hillclimb Champion in racing car category 1932
International Alpine Championship 1932
1934
5 August: International Klausen Pass race in a Mercedes-Benz W 25 (1st place)
19 August: German Hillclimb Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 25 (2nd place)
9 September: Italian Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 25 (1st place)
23 September: Spanish Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 25 (2nd place)
28-30 October: Speed marks set in Hungary in a Mercedes-Benz record-breaking car
10 December: Speed marks set on Avus course in a Mercedes-Benz record-breaking car
1935
12 May: Grand Prix of Tripoli in a Mercedes-Benz W 25 (1st place)
16 June: Eifel race in a Mercedes-Benz W 25 (1st place)
23 June: French Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 25 (1st place)
30 June: Grand Prix of Barcelona in a Mercedes-Benz W 25 (2nd place)
14 July: Belgian Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 25 (1st place)
28 July: German Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 25 (3rd place)
25 August: Swiss Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 25 (1st place)
22 September: Spanish Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 25 (1st place)
European Champion 1935
German Champion 1935
1936
13 April: Monaco Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 25 (1st place)
10 May: Grand Prix of Tripoli in a Mercedes-Benz W 25 (4th place)
17 May: Grand Prix of Tunis in a Mercedes-Benz W 25 (1st place)
7 June: Grand Prix of Barcelona in a Mercedes-Benz W 25 (2nd place)
26 July: German Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 25 (5th place)
26 October: Record runs on Reichsautobahn Frankfurt am Main–Heidelberg
11 November: Record runs on Reichsautobahn Frankfurt am Main–Darmstadt
1937
9 May: Grand Prix of Tripoli in a Mercedes-Benz W 125 (6th place)
30 May: International Avus race in a streamlined Mercedes-Benz (1st in first run)
13 June: International Eifel race in a Mercedes-Benz W 125 (2nd place)
25 July: German Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 125 (1st place)
1 August: German Mountain Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 125 (3rd place)
8 August: Monaco Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 125 (2nd place)
22 August: Swiss Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 125 (1st place)
12 September: Italian Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 125 (1st place)
26 September: Masaryk Grand Prix of Brno in a Mercedes-Benz W 125 (1st place)
2 October: Donington Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 125 (2nd place)
European Champion 1937
German Champion 1937
1938
28 January: Record-breaking runs on Reichsautobahn Frankfurt am Main–Darmstadt
10 April: Grand Prix of Pau in a Mercedes-Benz W 154 (2nd behind Hermann Lang)
15 May: Grand Prix of Tripoli in a Mercedes-Benz W 154 (3rd place)
3 July: French Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 154 (2nd place)
24 July: German Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 154 (2nd place, with Hermann Lang)
14 August: Coppa Acerbo in a Mercedes-Benz W 154 (1st place)
21 August: Swiss Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 154 (1st place)
11 September: Italian Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 154 (3rd place)
European Champion 1938
1939
8-14 February: Record-breaking runs on Reichsautobahn at Dessau
7 May: Grand Prix of Tripoli in a Mercedes-Benz W 165 (2nd place)
21 May: International Eifel race in a Mercedes-Benz W 154 (3rd place)
23 July: German Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 154 (1st place)
20. August: Swiss Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz W 154 (2nd place)
Pan-German Champion 1939
1952
3-4 May: Mille Miglia in a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL/W 194 (4th place)
18 May: Grand Prix of Berne in a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL/W 194 (retired due to accident)
1956
Caracciola takes over sales of Mercedes-Benz cars to British and American soldiers stationed in Germany
1959
28 September: Died in Kassel, Germany
Once each year in August, 175 of the most prized collector cars in the world roll onto what is often called the best finishing hole in golf — the famous eighteenth fairway at Pebble Beach. Tire meets turf and transformation occurs: the stage is set for one of the most competitive events in the automotive world. The occasion is the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
This year, Mercedes-Benz celebrates its super sports car heritage with eight iconic vehicles on display at the Mercedes-Benz Star Lounge during the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance weekend including a privately owned 1902 Simplex that is being driven 1,500 miles to Pebble Beach and a 300SLR “Uhlenhaut Coupe” from the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. From August 12-15, 2010, the Mercedes-Benz Star Lounge also showcases the entire line of E-Class vehicles, a Sony Gran Turismo 5 gaming sled, and Maybach display in addition to SLS AMG test drives and a selection of Mercedes-Benz Classic Center vehicles that are available for purchase.
Eight Super Sports Cars Span 108 Years of Mercedes-Benz History
Starting with a 1902 Mercedes Simplex, the lineup of super sports cars includes a 1929 SSK; 1952 W194 300SL; 1955 W196 300SLR “Uhlenhaut Coupe;” 1956 W198 300SL; 1970 C111-II; 2011 SLS AMG; and the 2011 SLS AMG GT3 that is expected to hit race circuits later this year.
The Mercedes Simplex, first launched in 1902, quickly became the leading high-performance vehicle of its day, competing and winning numerous hill climbs and road races. With three horsepower ranges – 20, 28, and 40 – the Simplex was enjoyed in competition and leisure. The 1902 on display at the Star Lounge is fitted with a 28 horsepower engine and is the oldest known Simplex on the road today.
Built from 1928 to 1932, the Mercedes-Benz SSK, short for Super Sport Kurz, was loud and fast. Known as the “White Elephant” for its brute force, the SSK had a commanding presence and dominated road races due to its shorter wheelbase, Roots blower, and large displacement 300 horsepower motor, which boasted an impressive top speed of 120 miles per hour.
The 1952 W194 300SL, built in just nine months, marked the debut of the SL moniker, meaning “Sport”and “Light.” While many chassis components were derived from a sedan model, its rigid tubular spaceframe forced developers to create its iconic ‘gullwing’ doors.
The 1955 300SLR “Uhlenhaut Coupe,” named after Mercedes-Benz chief engineer, Rudolf Uhlenhaut, was a closed roof version of the famous 300SLR racecar, designed to provide the most comfort for demanding long-distance races. Only two Uhlenhaut Coupes were ever built as it debuted the same year that Mercedes-Benz discontinued its racing program.
The 1956 W198 300SL is the standard production version of the 1952 W194 racecar. Insipired by the race car’s unique styling and impressive performance, the 300SL ‘Gullwing’ coupe was brought to market through the efforts of USA-based Mercedes-Benz distributor Max Hoffman who guaranteed an order of 500 units. Built from 1954 to 1957, only 1400 300SL ‘Gullwing’ coupes were produced and today are one of the most sought after collectible vehicles.
Over a period of ten years from 1969-1979, Mercedes-Benz developed multiple C111 concept and experimental vehicles representing the future of Mercedes-Benz sports cars – where comfort, luxury and performance were not mutually exclusive. The C111 vehicles were a technological tour-de-force and claimed nine speed records. Several technical and safety innovations made their deput on the C111s ranging from ABS, advanced front suspension later integrated into the S-Class, and turbo diesel engines.
The tradition of developing super-sport cars throughout Mercedes-Benz history and setting new standards along the way continues with the 2011 SLS AMG, the first supercar produced entirely by AMG. The SLS AMG is a modern super sports car with exceptional comfort and timeless style with all of the luxury and safety features expected in a Mercedes-Benz. Its aluminum space-frame body, front-mid engine and rear-mounted transaxle provides a low center of gravity and race-car-like handling. The carbon-fiber driveshaft is mated to a 563-horsepower AMG V8 engine capable of accelerating from 0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds. The performance is combined with luxury designo styled interior, full COMAND system and iconic gullwing doors, ushering in a new era of supercar leadership.
Displayed alongside the US spec street version will be the 2011 SLS AMG GT3 racing version, which has been conceived as a customer sport vehicle for participation in race series based on FIA GT3 regulations. Meticulous lightweight construction and optimized chassis, brakes and aerodynamics, deliver uncompromising dynamics.
Mercedes-Benz Star Lounge
Positioned on the third fairway at Pebble Beach, the elegant Mercedes-Benz Star Lounge, a grand display distinguished by its transparent front entrance, provides a striking view of the Pebble Beach course and offers an interactive luxury experience for all ages. For those who want to continue driving a classic, the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center will have five elegant examples for purchase including: a fire engine red 1955 300SL Gullwing, a graphite grey 1956 300Sc Cabriolet with a dove grey interior, a strawberry red 1957 300SL roadster, a dark green 1966 230SL, and a moss green 1958 180D.
The Star Lounge is open to the public from 8:30 AM until 5:00 PM Thursday, August 12th through Sunday, August 15th.
Wide, spectacular and clad in an authentic racing car outfit – two very special S-Class saloon models from the AMG stable. One is the racing touring car of 1971, the 300 SEL 6.8 AMG, and the other is the S 63 AMG showcar. With identical sponsoring and the memorable start number “35”, the new high-performance model is a reminder of a historic success: on July 25, 1971, the bright red four-door saloon crossed the finish line in second place at the 24-hour race in Spa-Francorchamps. This triumph in the car’s very first race made AMG world-famous overnight.
The highly experienced Hans Heyer and Clemens Schickentanz took turns behind the wheel of the AMG touring car. AMG was anything but the favourite to win this classic Belgian long-distance race: it faced the mighty opposition of the Ford Capri RS, BMW 2800 CS, Chevrolet Camaro, Opel Commodore and Alfa Romeo GTA. Nobody expected that the large luxury saloon from Affalterbach in provincial Swabia would be able to keep up with the well-established teams.
5th place in the starting line-up for AMG
The red four-door saloon already showed its potential in training, when Clemens Schickentanz surprised everyone with the fifth-fastest training time. Indeed nobody at AMG had expected fifth place in a starting line-up of 60 cars. 80,000 spectators wondered about the fast, red saloon with its long wheelbase – the only Mercedes taking part in the race. Pole position was occupied by the favourite, the Chevrolet Camaro driven by Ivo Grauls and Peter Hoffmann, followed by the Alpina-BMW 2800 CS of Niki Lauda/Gérard Larousse, then the first works Ford Capri with Dieter Glemser and Alex Soler-Roig, and the Schnitzer-BMW 2800 CS piloted by Rauno Aaltonen and Helmut Kelleners. All in all, 60 racing touring cars were seeking to beat the stopwatch on the then 14.1 kilometre course in the Ardennes, driven by well-known names such as Hans-Joachim-Stuck, Jochen Mass, Toine Hezemans, Willy Kauhsen, Achim Warmbold and Rainer Braun.
On the first lap, driver Hans Heyer in the 300 SEL 6.8 AMG was able to manoeuvre into 3rd place right behind the Ford Capri (Glemser/Soler-Roig) and the Chevrolet Camaro (Grauls/Hoffmann). After a turbulent race with a rainstorm at midnight and numerous breakdowns, the “35” finally crossed the finishing line in second place behind the works Capri driven by Glemser/Soler-Roig. The AMG saloon had absolved exactly 308 laps in the 24 hours. Technical problems: none at all. A sensational result.
Top speed of 265 km/h and exotic wood trim in the cockpit
Hans Heyer looks back fondly on this race: “We knew we could win, but the others did not know that yet!” The AMG saloon was unbeatable on the straight, however the braking system substantially adopted from the standard model had problems coping with the weight of the car (1635 kilograms). “But on the old Spa course the discs had plenty of time to cool down, and nobody was able to catch us on the long straights,” the now 67 year-old reminisces. With a top speed of 265 km/h, the 300 SEL 6.8 AMG was tailor-made for the fast Belgian track. The interior had a luxurious atmosphere with its standard appointments such as power steering, air suspension, carpets, panelled doors and a dashboard with exotic wood trim. The spectators along the trackside enthusiastically cheered the large saloon with its unmistakable V8 sound. “The outsider quickly became the public’s favourite,” says Hans Heyer.
The AMG racing saloon was technically based on the Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3. With an engine output of 184 kW (250 hp) at 4000 rpm and a top speed of 220 km/h, this luxury saloon was Germany’s fastest regular production car at the time. It was not only an enlarged displacement from 6330 to 6835 cc that increased the output to 315 kW (428 hp) at 5500 rpm, and torque from 500 to 608 newton metres. AMG co-founder Erhard Melcher “tweaked” the eight-cylinder power unit using classic methods: high-precision camshafts and modified rocker arms, lighter connecting rods, new Mahle pistons, larger intake valves, modified combustion chambers, polished intake and exhaust ducts, a new intake tract with two throttle flaps and a racing exhaust system ensured a better gas throughflow and made higher engine speeds possible. Endurance was improved by installing an additional oil cooler and finely balancing the crankshaft.
The wings were flared to make room for the lightweight size 10 x 15 and 12 x 15-inch magnesium wheels adopted from a C 111 test car. Aluminium doors helped to reduce the car’s weight from the original 1830 to 1635 kilograms. Larger front wishbones, a more robust rear axle with a heavy-duty differential and smaller, stiffer suspension air bellows made the saloon fit for the racetrack.
Sensational success reported on German TV news
The unexpected success in the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps made AMG, which was founded in 1967, well-known overnight – and marked the start of an impressive success story. Even the German TV news “Tagesschau” reported on this sensational result. “It really was a sensation at the time,” AMG founder Hans Werner Aufrecht remembers. The courage shown by Aufrecht and his partner Melcher in entering such a car in the classic 24-hour race had been well rewarded.
Afterwards the 300 SEL 6.8 AMG took part in the 2×6 hour race at Paul Ricard on 11 and 12 September 1971, accompanied by a privately entered 300 SEL 6.3 with an AMG engine. In March 1972, now repainted in yellow, the 300 SEL 6.8 AMG took part in the trials for the Le Mans 24-hour race, but did not take to the starting line for the June race. The car was however entered in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in June 1972, and in the Nuremberg 200-mile race at the Norisring on 6 August 1972, where Hans Heyer took first place in the “Standard and special touring cars above 2000 cc” category with the four-door saloon, which had meanwhile been painted red again. The success story of the 300 SEL 6.8 AMG came to an end there: a rule-change by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) put the brakes on this muscular racer, as only cars with an engine displacement of up to five litres were permitted to enter European Touring Car Championship races in future. AMG sold its racing saloon to the French Matra group, where it was converted for high-speed tests on aircraft tyres. Its subsequent fate is unknown. In spring 2006 Mercedes-AMG built a replica of the 300 SEL 6.8 AMG according to the original drawings, so as to keep this unique success story alive.
Spectacular S 63 AMG”Thirty-Five” showcar in the style of the racing touring car
Like its historic predecessor, the new S 63 AMG showcar does not fail to attract attention. Eye-catching details include the imposing tyre sizes of 275/35 R 20 and 325/30 R 20 at the front/rear, and the 4.5 cm flare on each wing. The start number 35 and practically all the sponsoring stickers follow the original. Instead of fire-red non-metallic paintwork, the body of the showcar is finished in “AMG Le Mans red metallic”, a colour available exclusively for the new SLS AMG. The functional interior is enhanced with black/carbon-fibre piano lacquer trim. A rollover cage, two AMG sports bucket seats with four-point seat belts and an AMG sports steering wheel lined in leather/Alcantara underline the racing touring car look. This spectacular showcar provides an outlook on the series production version of the new S 63 AMG, which is due to be launched in September 2010.
“AMG Performance 2015” as the continuation of a success story
The car is powered by the new AMG 5.5-litre V8 biturbo engine and the AMG SPEEDSHIFT MCT 7-speed sports transmission. Mercedes-AMG is continuing this impressive story with its “AMG Performance 2015” strategy, and meeting its promise to continuously reduce both the fuel consumption and emissions of new models with the new engine/transmission combination – while reaching new heights with the central brand value of “performance”.
The new AMG 5.5-litre V8 biturbo engine will play a major part in the Mercedes-AMG model strategy over the next few years. The unique AMG SPEEDSHIFT MCT 7-speed sports transmission will also guarantee a thrilling yet economical power transfer in future AMG high-performance cars. The new engine/transmission combination is another milestone in the success story of Mercedes-AMG, which
began in 1967. Another highlight in the company’s more than 40 year history is undoubtedly the SLS AMG: this gull-wing model which was launched in March 2010 is the first automobile to be completely independently developed by Mercedes-AMG. It means that as the performance brand within Mercedes-Benz Cars, AMG is not only fielding a masterpiece but also demonstrating development expertise at the highest level.
Direct petrol injection with spray-guided combustion and twin turbocharging
With an overall displacement of 5461 cc, the new AMG 5.5-litre V8 biturbo unit makes do with exactly 747 cubic centimetres less compared to the naturally aspirated AMG 6.3-litre V8 with a displacement of 6208 cc. In addition to downsizing, AMG is also utilising the advantages of direct petrol injection with spray-guided combustion and piezo-electric injectors: thanks to its higher thermodynamic efficiency, this technology makes more efficient use of fuel and leads to lower exhaust emissions. AMG combines this spray-guided combustion with twin turbochargers. Other highlights include a crankcase wholly of aluminium, four-valve technology with adjustable camshafts, an air/water intercooler, generator management and a start/stop function as standard.
This high-tech package leads to a high output and torque yield, together with fuel consumption figures that are unrivalled in the competitive lineup. The AMG 5.5‑litre V8 biturbo engine develops a peak output of 400 kW (544 hp) and maximum torque of 800 newton metres. In conjunction with the AMG Performance package these figures are increased to 420 kW (571 hp) and 900 newton metres. The major difference between the two performance classes is an increase in the maximum charge pressure from 1.0 to 1.3 bar. A look at the performance diagrams shows that no other engine in this output class achieves the figures delivered by the new AMG biturbo.
Quantum leap: fuel consumption reduced by 25 percent
With a provisional NEDC fuel consumption of 10.5 litres per 100 kilometres, the new S 63 AMG is 3.9 litres more economical than the preceding model powered by the naturally aspirated AMG 6.3-litre V8 – despite an increase in output by 14 kW (19 hp) resp. 34 kW (46 hp) and in torque by 170 and 270 newton metres. Engine specialists consider this achieved fuel saving of more than 25 percent to be nothing less than a quantum leap. CO2 emissions have likewise been significantly reduced: at 246 grams per kilometre, the figure is 28.5 percent lower than for the previous model. Both performance variants have identical fuel consumption and CO2 figures.
With figures like these, the new S 63 AMG is not only considerably better than all its competitors, but also more fuel-efficient than much less powerful cars in this segment. In some cases, in terms of its enormous output and torque figures, the new AMG 5.5-litre V8 biturbo engine is twice as efficient as many a medium or compact class diesel engine.
At the same time the S 63 AMG delivers superior performance at sports car level: the high-performance saloon accelerates from zero to 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds, and has an electronically limited top speed of 250 km/h. The 100 km/h mark is reached in just 4.4 seconds with the AMG Performance package, with the top speed increased to an electronically limited 300 km/h.
Engine production – tradition of hand-built excellence
Like all AMG engines, the new eight-cylinder biturbo is assembled by hand in the AMG engine shop taken into commission in 2002. A single, highly-qualified technician assembles the M 157 according to the “one man, one engine” philosophy, maintaining the very strictest quality standards – as attested by his signature on the characteristic AMG engine plate.
Exciting power delivery, characteristic sound
These figures raise high expectations which the 400 kW (544 hp) AMG 5.5-litre V8 biturbo certainly meets. The flat torque curve ensures enormous pulling power in all speed ranges: 670 newton metres are already available at 1500 rpm, and the maximum torque of 800 newton metres is delivered just 500 rpm later, remaining constant to 4500 rpm. Even more effortless performance is ensured by the engine variant with the AMG Performance package, which has a peak output of 420 kW (571 hp). In this case the eight-cylinder delivers 875 newton metres of torque at just 2000 rpm, with a constant 900 newton metres available between 2500 and 3750 rpm.
It is not only the unrivalled torque delivery of this turbocharged eight-cylinder that makes the heart beat faster, as the agile responsiveness with no irritating charger delay leads to an effortlessness and dynamism previously unknown in this output class. All perfectly matched by the characteristic, sonorous engine note. Moreover, this AMG high-performance engine naturally meets all the requirements with respect to smooth, quiet running and the comfort on long journeys that is to be expected of a Mercedes.
MCT 7-speed sports transmission with Controlled Efficiency mode and start/stop function
Power is transferred by the AMG SPEEDSHIFT MCT 7-speed sports transmission used exclusively by AMG, which is already familiar from the SL 63 AMG and E 63 AMG and combines high emotional appeal with outstanding driving dyna-mics and a high level of efficiency. The wet start-up clutch replaces a conventional torque converter, and helps to save fuel. The exemplary fuel economy is also in large measure due to the standard start/stop function. This system is active in the transmission’s Controlled Efficiency (“C”) mode, and switches the eight-cylinder engine off when the car comes to a stop. In “C” mode the sports saloon always starts off in second gear, and the transmission shifts to the next, higher gears at a decidedly early stage. With its high torque at low engine speeds, the V8 engine encourages a smooth, effortless driving style.
The eight-cylinder biturbo engine also features the generator management system familiar from the E 63 AMG: whenever the engine is on the overrun or when braking, kinetic energy is used to charge the battery rather than being wasted as heat in the usual way. In all other operating modes a combination of onboard network and generator management enables the generator to be kept at a low voltage. This reduces the load on the engine and makes for fuel savings of around 0.15 litres per 100 kilometres according to the NEDC standard, and up to 0.2 l/ 100 km in city traffic with its frequent overrun and braking phases.
Long tradition of powerful AMG V8 engines
Powerful eight-cylinder engines are an inseparable part of AMG’s corporate history. One milestone in this history was the M 117, the first eight-cylinder with four-valve technology: with a displacement of 5.6 litres, 265 kW (360 hp) and 510 newton metres of torque, this V8 accelerated the Mercedes-Benz 300 CE 5.6 AMG to a top speed of 303 km/h in 1987. This made the coupé Germany’s fastest series-production car; American AMG fans reverently christened it “The Hammer”. Another important engine in the history of AMG was the supercharged AMG 5.5-litre V8 introduced in 2001: the M 113 K developed an output of up to 428 kW (582 hp) and torque of 800 newton metres. The supercharged AMG 5.5-litre V8 in the SLR McLaren of 2003 was even more powerful – it developed up to 478 kW (650 hp) and 820 newton metres. 2005 saw the debut of the AMG 6.3-litre V8 engine; depending on the model, the naturally aspirated, high-revving M 156 developed up to 386 kW (525 hp) and 630 newton metres. Exclusively reserved for the new SLS AMG, the likewise 6.3-litre M 159 has a maximum output of 420 kW (571 hp) and maximum torque of 650 newton metres.
The supercharged AMG 5.5-litre V8, the AMG 6.3-litre V8 and the AMG 6.0-litre V12 biturbo were all able to win the Best Performance Engine category in the International Engine of the Year Awards.
Hans Heyer highly successful in touring car and sports car races
Hans Heyer, born in Mönchengladbach on 16 March 1943, has taken part in 1000 races in more than 35 years of motorsports. He has competed as a works driver for many brands, including AMG-Mercedes, Ford, Lancia, Porsche, Jaguar and BMW. Heyer is Germany’s most successful Go-Kart driver of all time, winning four European championships, two world vice-championships, four German championships and two Dutch championships. He won the precursor to the DTM series three times, the German motor racing championship and achieved three first places in the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps. In 1974 he crowned this successful career with the European touring car championship title.
Heyer was also very successful with prototype sports cars, with victories including the 1000-kilometre races in Monza, Mugello, Kyalami and on the Nürburgring. He also competed in the 24-hour race in Le Mans several times, and became sports car brand world champion in 1976 and 1980. In 1977 Hans Heyer even competed in a Formula 1 race for ATS.
In 1985 Hans Heyer took to the starting line for the Paris–Dakar marathon rally, winning the truck category and taking 28th overall place. In 1986 and 1987 Heyer worked as a development and test driver for the AMG-Mercedes team, and also as racing manager in 1988 and 1989. In 2004 Hans Heyer announced his final retirement from active racing after his 1000th race. His son Kenneth, aged 29, has followed his father’s footsteps and is entering the ADAC GT Masters and the FIA GT European championships in 2010.
Tyrolean hat as a trademark
Hans Heyer’s trademark was his Tyrolean hat: he elevated this striking head cover into a trademark over several decades – and it also “opened doors” for him automatically. “There were times when I did not need to show identification for anything. My hat was so well-known that I got in everywhere, even at Formula 1 events.”
Clemens Schickentanz still active today
The greatest sporting successes of Clemens Schickentanz, born on 24 May 1944 in Coesfeld, include overall victory in the first ever 24-hour race on the Nürburgring in 1970, together with Hans-Joachim Stuck. Even more publicity was assured by the second place with the 300 SEL 6.8 AMG at the 24-hour race in Spa-Francorchamps with Hans Heyer in 1971. In 1973 Clemens Schickentanz won the GT European championship and the Porsche Cup; at the 24-hour race in Le Mans he took 3rd and 4th place in 1973 and 1983. His race record is also studded with numerous victories in 1000 km races. Clemens Schickentanz has never officially ended his active carer as a racing driver, and still appears on the starting line for classic car races.
The driver duo of Hans Heyer/Clemens Schickentanz was not only successful with the Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.8 AMG. In 1978 they drove the new 450 SLC 5.0 AMG in the European touring car championships. At the end of the season they had achieved two third places in Monza/Italy and on the Salzburgring in Austria. In 1980 Clemens Schickentanz alternated with Jörg Denzel behind the wheel of the silver coupé. After a second place in Monza, they achieved their first victory in the Touring Car Grand Prix on the Nürburgring.
Legendary racetrack with many bends: Spa-Francorchamps
The Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in the Belgian Ardennes was opened in 1921, and is regarded as hallowed ground by racing drivers and fans – it almost has the same legendary appeal as the North Loop of the Nürburgring.
The seven kilometre long circuit is already very special because of its very varied course and very considerable differences in altitude, which is why it is often
referred to as the “Ardennes Rollercoaster”. Spa-Francorchamps is world-famous by virtue of its notorious “Eau Rouge” combination of bends. Shortly after the starting/finishing line and the “La Source” hairpin, the track dips into a fast left/right combination. This is immediately followed by a respectable uphill gradient transitioning into the fast and also blind “La Radillon” left-hand bend.
A test of courage for any racing driver. There is only space for one car to pass through this demanding combination of bends – no chance for two or even three abreast. It is also important to take the ideal line to gain impetus for the long “Kemmel” straight that follows. Another key point is the ultra-fast double left-hander named “Blanchimont”, where speeds of up to 300 km/h are attained before the racing cars have to be braked hard to take the “Bus Stop” chicane.
“Eau Rouge” is particularly synonymous with exciting racing incidents – but has also been the scene of tragic accidents in the past. The extraordinarily talented German driver Stefan Bellof lost his life at Eau Rouge on 1 September 1985, during a sports car race. Following numerous rebuilding measures on this bend and other stretches, passive safety has been drastically improved for both the drivers, the spectators and the track marshals.
World Champion Michael Schumacher holds the lap record
The official lap record in Spa-Francorchamps is held by the seven-times World Champion Michael Schumacher: his lap time of 1:43.726 minutes dates from 2002, and corresponds to an average speed of 241.837 km/h. Mercedes-GP-Petronas driver Michael Schumacher on the Belgian Grand-Prix track: “This racetrack is one of the few that has retained its historic charm – and one of the last where the drivers really make the difference.” AMG Mercedes DTM driver David Coulthard: “I would say that at least 90 percent of all drivers consider Spa-Francorchamps to be their favourite course.”
Spa-Francorchamps is now the venue for the Belgian Grand Prix Formula 1 race (27 to 29 August 2010) and the 24-hour race (31 July to 1 August 2010) – the very event in which the 300 SEL 6.8 AMG achieved its second place in 1971.
Mercedes-Benz Coupés have always embodied elegance on four wheels. TheMercedes-Benz Coupés attract a clientele that consciously opts for a body with flowing lines and sees their vehicle as a logical extension of a lifestyle often characterised by beauty and elegance.
These fundamentals also applied to the SEC Coupés of the C 126 series, which Mercedes-Benz presented at the Frankfurt International Motor Show (IAA) in September 1981. They were based on the S-Class Saloon of the 126 series, with a frame/floor assembly shortened by 85 millimetres. Nevertheless, the Coupés were fully-fledged four-seaters.
Their design rendered them unmistakable: Bruno Sacco, then Head of Design, gave the vehicles the perfect lines of the day and also integrated them harmoniously into the Mercedes-Benz passenger car range. For example, he revived the horizontal radiator grille with large central star which had been a feature of the large Mercedes-Benz Coupés and the legendary 300 SL Gullwing Coupé since the 1950s. All things considered, the Coupés of the C 126 series were a tour de force in terms of design, retaining even today an air of timeless elegance and desirability.
The elegant looks of the Coupés were coupled with exclusive equipment, powerful engines and optimum safety – resulting in an experience that offered comfort from every facet of automotive design. Even the longest journeys could be effortlessly undertaken in the Coupé, thanks to its sophisticated chassis – which apart from a few details was identical to that of the S-Class – the ergonomically designed and elegant interior and the drive system. The Coupés were available exclusively with eight-cylinder engines. Initially there were two models, the 380 SEC and 500 SEC. The model refinement package in 1985 saw the 380 SEC superseded by the 420 SEC, as well as the arrival of a modified version of 500 SEC and – the most spectacular newcomer – the 560 SEC. The model refinement package also saw the introduction of emission control systems with a closed-loop three-way catalytic converter.
In terms of safety technology the Coupés of the C 126 series were state-of-the-art. The body was designed in line with latest safety research findings. One noteworthy equipment detail was the electrically operated belt feeder, which was a standard-fit specification on the SEC models. Optionally available were also an airbag for the driver and belt tensioner for the front passenger. The front passenger airbag was available from 1985. Optimum active driving safety was guaranteed by systems such as the automatic locking differential (ASD) or acceleration skid control (ASR).
Value retention as opposed to depreciation
The range of Coupés sporting the desirable SEC abbreviation in the model designation is extensive. Although most of them are by now older vehicles, it is not unusual to fine well maintained examples. Moreover, high mileages are no problem for the regularly maintained eight-cylinder engines.
But there are also vehicles available with a manufacturer’s warranty: Mercedes-Benz Young Classics regularly offers vehicles in above average condition and which are therefore supplied with a warranty – an offer unique in the automotive industry.
Those who today drive a Coupé of the C 126 series as a modern classic are sure to appreciate aspects such as its outstanding everyday practicality, high level of ride comfort, elegant appearance and exclusivity. An additional bonus is that with correct maintenance and good care it will at least retain its value and eliminate depreciation. In many cases, the value of the vehicle even rises over time.
Mercedes-Benz’s excellent spare parts supply has helped maintain a modern classic: almost every part can be procured through a Mercedes-Benz dealer and the company’s own ordering system; delivery is usually made overnight. Some authorised service shops have even been designated Classic Partners, possessing outstanding competence in handling older vehicles. Not for nothing does the slogan “Service for a lifetime” apply to all vehicles of the brand.
Production of the Coupés of the C 126 series was stopped in 1991, almost exactly ten years after the market launch. The total volume of 74,060 units built gives an impression of the model family’s high popularity. The best-selling model was the 500 SEC with 30,184 units. Clearly the rarest version was the 420 SEC with just 3,680 units. Regardless of engine type, each individual vehicle is a legend of its time.
Mercedes-Benz officially returned to the pinnacle of motor sport, Formula One, in 1994, in a collaboration with Peter Sauber. The later McLaren Mercedes team was established in 1995, and won three drivers’ world championships (1998, 1999 and 2008), and the constructors’ championship in 1998. For the 2010 season Mercedes-Benz would once again be entering a works team – having sensationally engaged arguably the greatest star of recent Formula One history. In December 2009 Daimler AG announced that the new Mercedes Grand Prix Petronas racing stable would start the 2010 season with the driver line-up of Schumacher and Nico Rosberg.
Daimler’s route to becoming a works team began with relatively small steps. The C 12 racing car used by the Sauber team in Formula One races in 1993 carried the wording ‘concept by Mercedes-Benz’. The company had yet to make the final decision on whether or not to return to the elite discipline of motor racing. However, Mercedes-Benz was happy to support its long-standing partner from Group C racing with its engine development know-how. Sauber drivers J. J. Letho and Karl Wendlinger were placed fifth and seventh, respectively, in the drivers’ championship that year, with the team finishing in seventh place for the constructors’ championship in its first Formula One season with 12 points.
The name of the Sauber-Mercedes C 13 of 1994 confirmed that the Stuttgart brand was definitely on the racetrack. The car was again powered by a ten-cylinder engine built by Ilmor. The 2175 B unit developed 563 kW at 14,000 rpm, propelling the car to a top speed of 340 km/h. In a season marked by several rule changes, drivers Heinz-Harald Frentzen (13th in the drivers’ championship), Karl Wendlinger (19th) and Andrea de Cesaris (20th) were able to secure eighth place in the constructors’ championship.
1995 saw the arrival of a new team on the Formula One stage: after the disappointing results of the collaboration with Sauber, Mercedes-Benz parted from the Swiss firm at the end of 1995, and now works with the McLaren International, a British racing stable with a long tradition behind it. Its owner, Ron Dennis, had set up some links with Mercedes-Benz at the end of the 1980s. In just four-and-a-half months, the completely new FO 110 engine was designed for the 1995 McLaren-Mercedes MP4-10. This monoposto was the first result of the partnership between McLaren, Mercedes-Benz and the engine specialists at Ilmor. The V10 with displacement of three litres reached speeds of up to 15,600 rpm.
Drivers Mika Häkkinen (seventh in the drivers’ championship) and Mark Blundell (tenth) secured fourth place in the 1995 team standings in this car. In the improved MP4-11 for the 1996 season (particularly with regard to driver safety), Häkkinen (fifth) and his new fellow-team member David Coulthard (seventh) again achieved fourth place in the constructors’ championship – a result replicated in 1997 in the MP 4-12 (with Coulthard third place and Häkkinen in sixth). McLaren-Mercedes did, however, win three races in the 1997 season: the Australian and Italian Grand Prix (Coulthard), and the European Grand Prix (Häkkinen) in Jerez, Spain.
The German-British partnership finally achieved its goal of a world championship in 1998, with a double triumph: with Mika Häkkinen taking the world championship in his McLaren-Mercedes MP4-13, and Coulthard in third place in the drivers’ standings. McLaren-Mercedes also won the constructors’ championship. During that epic 1998 season, the Silver Arrow –back in its traditional livery since 1997 – was first across the line in Australia, Brazil, Spain, Monaco, Austria, Germany, Luxembourg and Japan (Häkkinen), and San Marino (Coulthard).
While the basic concept of the MP4-13 of the world championship car was derived from the MP4-12 from the previous year, substantial modifications to many details were required to comply with the changes to the regulations for the 1998 racing season. The track width and overall width were reduced by 20 centimetres, for example, which in turn required extensive modifications to the vehicle’s aerodynamics. A characteristic feature of the MP4-13 was the marked downward slope of the nose, ending just above the front wing. The cockpit – broader than before, in line with the regulations – was pushed further back to optimise weight distribution. This led to a longer wheelbase than in the MP4-12, along with a slight increase in overall length.
The outstanding reputation of Mercedes-Benz as an engine partner for international racing teams was not just limited to Formula One. In the 1994 season, for example, a legend was made when American Penske team won the CART IndyCar World Series with a Mercedes-Benz engine built at Ilmor. The Penske cars won twelve out of 16 races that season, including the Indianapolis 500. The Penske cars were equipped with Mercedes engines from 1994 to 1999.
Mika Häkkinen successfully defended his world championship title in 1999 in his McLaren-Mercedes MP4-14, with David Coulthard in fourth place. McLaren-Mercedes was runner-up in the constructors’ championship. That same year, Häkkinen won the Grand Prix races in Brazil, Spain, Canada, Hungary and Japan, and Coulthard won in the UK and Belgium.
The racing car for the 1999 season was externally similar to its predecessor, but was actually a completely new development project. Innovations included mechanical and aerodynamic boosting of the contact pressure on the front axle. The downward slope of the nose in the MP4-14 was still more pronounced, and the overall centre of gravity in the monoposto powered by the FO 110 H engine was lower than in the 1998 vehicle.
Häkkinen and Coulthard again secured runner-up positions for the team in the constructors’ championship in the following years. Mika Häkkinen drove his McLaren-Mercedes MP4-15 to second place in the drivers’ standings in 2000, with Coulthard in third place. The car had a flatter front nose and enhanced head guards on the sides of the cockpit, the engine, the three-litre V10 FO 110 J, was 2 centimetres shorter. An important innovation was the seven-speed gearbox, developed by McLaren itself. In the 2000 season, the Silver Arrow won races in Spain, Austria, Hungary and Belgium (Häkkinen), and in the United Kingdom and France (Coulthard).
The 2001 season saw major changes to the Formula One rules. This meant that the McLaren-Mercedes MP4-16 was almost completely different from its predecessor. The front wing now had to be 50 millimetres higher – double the clearance from the track surface required previously. The position of the driver’s legs was raised, and the rules also required a substantially smaller rear spoiler. There were restrictions on the number of elements in the spoiler – a maximum of four, three at the top, one at the bottom. The Mercedes-Benz FO 110 K V10 engine, displacing three litres, was also a completely new development project.
David Coulthard was second in the drivers’ championship that year, with Häkkinen in fifth place. Victories in Brazil and Austria (Coulthard) and in the United Kingdom and the USA (Häkkinen) again gave McLaren-Mercedes the runner-up position in the constructors’ championship. Mika Häkkinen retired from Formula One racing at the end of the 2001 season, and was replaced by his compatriot Kimi Räikkönen.
At the starting line for the Melbourne Grand Prix at the beginning of the 2002 season, it was not just the driver in one of the McLaren-Mercedes MP4-17s who was making his debut – the racing car with the FO 110 M ten-cylinder engine was a new vehicle, and Michelin had also come on board as the tyre supplier. In the engine development sphere, Mercedes-Benz had decided to strengthen still further the relationship with the British specialists at Ilmor, and acquired a majority stake in the capital of the company, now known as Mercedes-Ilmor. The 2002 season ended with Coulthard and Räikkönen in fifth and sixth places, respectively, in the drivers’ standings, and McLaren-Mercedes was third in the brand championship. The sole victory during the season was Coulthard’s win at the Monaco Grand Prix.
For the 2003 season, McLaren-Mercedes developed a new monoposto, the MP4-18. Obvious differences from its predecessor included the short and lower nose and more compact rear, in a shape similar to a dorsal fin. The new Mercedes-Benz V10 engine, the FO 110 P, was placed lower than in the predecessor vehicle, which also further lowered the car’s centre of gravity.
However, the revolutionary vehicle saw no racing action: the team competed in the season’s grand prix races with a further improved variant of the previous year’s car called the MP4-17D, while development work on the MP4-18 continued. Kimi Räikkönen was runner-up in the drivers’ championship in his second season with McLaren-Mercedes, with Coulthard in seventh place. McLaren-Mercedes was third in the constructors’ standings. Coulthard won the Australian Grand Prix in the MP4-17D, and Räikkönen won his first race in a Silver Arrow in the Malaysian Grand Prix.
The team was unable to emulate these results in the 2004 season. Räikkönen drove the enhanced McLaren-Mercedes MP4-19 car, based on the MP4-18, to seventh place in the drivers’ championship, with Coulthard in tenth position. McLaren-Mercedes posted just one victory (Räikkönen’s win in the Belgian Grand Prix), and ended the season in fifth position in the constructors’ championship.
The McLaren-Mercedes MP4-20 for the 2005 racing season – now with a total of around 10,800 components – clearly reflected some major changes to the regulations. Engines now had to last for at least two races, and further changes were made to the aerodynamics requirements. Accordingly, the engineers spent around 3600 hours in the wind tunnel alone working on the new vehicle. The new Mercedes-Benz FO 110 R engine also had to be exhaustively tested and updated.
Because of the injuries suffered by Juan Pablo Montoya, four different drivers appeared at the wheel of a Silver Arrow during the season: Kimi Räikkönen was runner-up in the drivers’ championship and Montoya was fourth. The replacement drivers were Alexander Wurz (17th) and Pedro de la Rosa (19th). McLaren-Mercedes was runner-up in the constructors’ championship. The team won grand prix events in Spain, Monaco, Canada, Hungary, Turkey, Belgium and Japan (Räikkönen), and in the United Kingdom, Italy and Brazil (Montoya) – a total of ten victories in 19 races.
For the first time since the return of Mercedes-Benz to Formula One racing, the Silver Arrows did not have a ten-cylinder engine. Instead the new regulations required a V8 engine, which impacted on the entire design of the MP4-21. As in 2005, the new engine had to be used on two consecutive Grand Prix weekends. The Mercedes-Benz FO 108S V8 engine was a completely new design and construction project, and was tested for the first time in 2005. The rules for the engines included a cylinder angle of 90 degrees, no more than two intake and exhaust valves, a minimum weight of 95 kilograms and other parameter requirements. The V8 monoposto again brought McLaren-Mercedes third place in the constructors’ championship, and the drivers placed fifth (Kimi Räikkönen), eighth (Juan Pablo Montoya) and 11th (Pedro de la Rosa).
2007 came close to being a year of triumph for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, as the team was called after the new main sponsor came on board. There were two new drivers at the wheel of the MP4-22: the young Briton Lewis Hamilton, a young talent nurtured by McLaren and Mercedes-Benz over many years, and the Spaniard Fernando Alonso. In his very first season, Hamilton achieved podium positions in each of his first three races – a record in the history of Formula One. During the season, he won grand prix in Canada, the USA, Hungary and Japan. Alonso won in Malaysia and Monaco, at the European Grand Prix and in Italy. Hamilton had a precarious lead in the drivers’ standing going into the last race of the season in Brazil, but had to admit defeat in the final by a narrow margin to Felipe Massa in a Ferrari.
In 2008, Lewis Hamilton turned his narrow defeat the previous year into an equally narrow victory, when an overtaking manoeuvre in his MP4-23 in the closing stages of the last race of the season brought him the world title. The Brazilian Grand Prix was raced in difficult conditions, with rain just before the start and again soon before the end of the event. But by overtaking Toyota driver Timo Glock on the last turn of the 71-lap race, Hamilton secured fifth position – enough to take the world championship with 98 points, just one more than the tally of Ferrari driver Felipe Massa.
At the age of 23 years, 9 months and 26 days, Lewis Hamilton became the youngest champion in Formula One history. This was the third driver’s title for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes in Formula One, following Häkkinen’s wins in 1998 and 1999. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes took second position in the constructors’ championship. The second Silver Arrow driver in 2008 was Heikki Kovalainen, who ended the season in seventh place in the drivers’ standings.
In the 2009 season, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes competed with the new MP4-24. At the wheel again were Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen. But another team whose Formula One racing cars were powered by a Mercedes Benz FO 108W engine was doing the winning: Jenson Button from Brawn Mercedes, driving a BGP 001, won five out of the first six races and was finally crowned Formula One world champion, his team-mate Rubens Barrichello finishing 3rd. The McLaren-Mercedes drivers finished 5th (Lewis Hamilton) and 12th (Heikki Kovalainen). Team Force India F1 was a third team to use Mercedes-Benz engines.
For the 2010 season Daimler AG then revived a tradition unbroken since the end of the 1955 season and entered a Formula One works team. The new Team Mercedes Grand Prix was created from the takeover of the British racing stable Brawn GP. After concluding a long-term sponsorship deal with the Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas in late 2009, the new partners agreed on the team name Mercedes Grand Prix Petronas, or Mercedes GP Petronas for short.
In 2010 Mercedes-Benz and McLaren continued to work in partnership in spite of changes to cooperative arrangements, and Mercedes-Benz agreed to supply engines to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes potentially until 2015.
The signing of Michael Schumacher as a Mercedes-Benz driver for the new works team caused a sensation. One of the two Silver Arrows in 2010 is to be driven by the seven-time Formula One world champion. His team-mate is Nico Rosberg.
For Michael Schumacher and for Mercedes-Benz Motorsport the 2010 season means returning full circle. For as a Mercedes-Benz junior Schumacher drove in Group C and DTM in 1990 and 1991, and with Mercedes-Benz assistance he joined Formula One in 1991 – with Jordan on 25 August at Spa-Francorchamps.
With Mercedes GP Petronas, Schumacher is now following in the footsteps of the latest Formula One works drivers for Mercedes-Benz, including five-times world champion Fangio, Karl Kling, Stirling Moss and Piero Taruffi. In addition, Schumacher also renews his collaboration with team boss Ross Brawn, with whom he won his seven world driver’s titles at Benetton and Ferrari.
The Mercedes-Benz C111 Research Vehicle was first completed in 1969 and sported a fiberglass body with gullwing doors. The C111 was tested with a center mounted Wankel Engine, turbo-Diesel engine with the final C111 model hosting a 500 hp V8 Gasoline engine. Breaking several diesel and gas speed records, the most impressive records came when the Mercedes-Benz C111 set a lap speed record with Dr. Hans Leibold behind the wheel. Dr. Leibold acheived 250 mph to finish a lap in 1 minute, 56.67 seconds on May 5, 1979.
Althought Mercedes-Benz received several request for purchase of the C111, it never went into production. The Mercedes-Benz C111 instead remained a research vehicle – setting standards for the design of modern sports cars.
The coupé is an exclusive body design. This was true even in the days of the horse-drawn carriage, when the coupé – presumably so-called because it resembled a four-seater carriage with its front end cut-off (French: “coupé”) – offered two seats in the comfort of the cab with the coachman seated up front on the open box seat. People who chose this mode of travel clearly liked to demonstrate a sense of style and individuality.
“Coupés from Mercedes-Benz have always been the embodiment of elegance on four wheels,” says Michael Bock, Managing Director of the Mercedes-Benz Museum and Head of Mercedes-Benz Classic. “Whether today, 40 years ago or 100 years ago – our coupés are legends of the eras in which they were built.”
The early automobiles borrowed heavily from various styles of horse-drawn carriage. The coupé retained a strong focus essentially on two persons traveling in style. To this day it typifies an exclusive form of transportation.
Use of a coachman eventually gave way to owners who preferred to take control of their vehicle themselves; today’s coupés are also driver-oriented. So would it be entirely wrong to suggest that one decides upon a coupé rather as one might choose an elegant coat – with the aim of wearing it for comfort and self-confidence?
Throughout its history Mercedes-Benz has offered coupés in a variety of designs. The 10 hp Benz Mylord coupé of 1901, for example, still bore close resemblance to the horse-drawn carriage, with a seat for the driver open to the elements. One not uncommon feature for the day was the folding roof above the passenger seats, which could be opened in good weather to enhance enjoyment of the journey – and which at a top speed of 35 to 40 km/h detracted only minimally from the elegance of the Mylord coupé’s appearance.
Flowing lines for a dynamic appearance
The term coupé has evolved and grown over the decades. Early coupés, for example, generally only had room for two people; since the 1950s, however, they have more usually had four seats. But the body incorporates a number of basic features that persist to this day. A coupé generally has very low, flowing lines which create a stretched silhouette. It often dispenses with the B pillar altogether, and the C pillar slopes gently into the tail. The roof is generally shorter than in the case of a sedan, and curved at the rear. The side windows are usually frameless.
Nowadays, owning a coupé and enjoying utility value are no longer mutually exclusive aspirations. Although many coupé enthusiasts would contest the fact, even in a coupé a spacious trunk, folding rear seat bench and ski bag are popular equipment features. After all, the body does not reveal outwardly all the other things that need transportation in addition to the passengers.
Coupés by Mercedes-Benz and predecessor brands carry the self-image of this exceptional vehicle type in every detail – whether in the E-Class Coupé from the C 207 series or the CL-Class from the C 216 series. In addition, the CLC from the CL 203 series has been available in the C-Class as a sports coupé version since 2008. In this way the various coupés have smoothly been taking up their place in the Mercedes-Benz product range and adding a touch of sporting elegance to the brand image.
Coupes in every class
After the Second World War the coupé became a permanent feature in particular of the Mercedes-Benz mid-series, as well as of its premium-class models. The forerunners of the CL-Class include vehicles such as the 300 S coupé (W 188, 1952 to 1955) and the coupés of the 180 and 128 “three-box body” series, whose self-supporting bodies were fully in tune with the tastes of the day.
1961 saw the launch of coupés in the premium-class 111 series, then the following year that of the 112 series, all of them highly sought-after vehicles today.
An intermediate step in the tradition of great Mercedes-Benz coupés were the coupés of the 107 series. For in the case of the C 107 the coupés were based not on the four-door premium class saloons but on the roadsters of the SL-Class.
The C 126 successor series on the other hand offered four proper seats, a feature that has been continued to the present day in the C 140, C 215 and C 216 series.
In the Mercedes-Benz mid-series there has been an almost continuous coupé tradition since the late 1960s, perpetuated today by the E-Class Coupé from the C 207 series. The first mid-series coupé was the 114 series, more familiarly known as the Stroke Eight, since internally it bore the abbreviation “/8” to denote the year of its appearance, 1968. The car was also successfully exported to North America. The 123 series (1977 to 1985) followed seamlessly on and even offered a first-ever diesel-powered coupé – initially reserved for North American customers with a view to improving Corporate Average Fuel Economy there.
The coupé tradition was continued by the 124 series from 1987 to 1996. This link was established by the first CLK Coupé (C 208 series), launched in 1997 and built until 2002. For this model Mercedes-Benz sounded out the market with the aid of a coupé study, presented in 1993 at the Geneva Motor Show and revealing to an enthusiastic public the brand’s new “four-eyed” face. Built from 2002 to 2009, the CLK series
(C 209) seamlessly built on the success of its predecessor. This was then continued by the E-Class Coupé C 207, awarded the GOOD DESIGN® Award and the German Design Award as a member of the current E-Class.
The presentation of the Vision CLS at the IAA Frankfurt Motor Show in 2003 caused a sensation and gave the motoring public a foretaste of the Mercedes-Benz CLS, which appeared the following year. This car combined the best of two worlds, offering the spaciousness and four doors of a sedan, while at the same time exhibiting its clear coupé roots with a skilfully designed body. The CLS quickly established itself as a modern automotive icon. And it created an entirely new market segment. After the success enjoyed by Mercedes-Benz, other carmakers with four-door coupés followed in its wake.
No review of the coupé history of Mercedes-Benz would be complete without mention of four exceptional sports coupés. In 1954 came the 300 SL (W 198). Not just the gullwing doors and timeless body design place this car in a class of its own in the automotive world – the whole vehicle remains today both a dream car and a dream coupé in one.
Then in 1969 the company presented the C 111 experimental car, initially as a test vehicle for the Wankel engine. This coupé unleashed a storm of interest and Mercedes-Benz even received numerous blank checks from potential customers. But the C 111 never went into production.
Although the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren (199 series) of 2003 was no direct descendant of the 300 SL, it still bears the genes of the Gullwing. For it is both a dream sports car and an original coupé design. In both cases, the roadster versions were later additions.
And finally, 2010 saw the arrival of the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG to continue the history of Mercedes-Benz supersports cars. The elegant sportiness of this extraordinary coupé (C 197 series) ignites both passion and enthusiasm.
Every Mercedes-Benz coupé is a classic, whether it has historic roots or hails from the current model portfolio. These models perfectly round off the brand’s automotive product range and target a clientele for whom style and elegance retain a particular importance. In this way Mercedes-Benz coupés are a lifestyle statement on wheels.
Acquisition of the premises was hardly spectacular, meriting a few marginal lines in the Annual Report of 1960: “In the Wörth area near Karlsruhe industrial premises have been purchased that lie favourably close to the South German parent plants and on which construction of a production facility for major assemblies will begin in the near future.” And that was about the only mention at the time of Wörth, the plant that has long since become the largest truck plant in Europe today.
On 27 July 1960 the Supervisory Board had authorised the acquisition of premises covering an area of 1.5 million square metres, although the acquisition remained largely unmentioned until the Annual Report of 1962: “Cabs for all truck models in the Mannheim and Gaggenau programmes are to be built at a new production facility, scheduled for completion in late 1963,” ran the succinct report. Then another year passed before the Annual Report of 1963 offered an idea of the scale of the new plant. “At Wörth a. Rh. we have at our disposal sufficient reserves of real estate to enable us to create the facilities necessary to increase in the future our commercial vehicle production, with a view to expanding and improving the structure of our operations.”
What was being referred to here was a restructuring of truck production – at the time restricted to Mannheim and Gaggenau – in line with passenger car production (where responsibilities were shared between Sindelfingen and Untertürkheim), with central assembly taking place in Wörth, and Mannheim and Gaggenau taking care of supplying the major assemblies (engines from Mannheim, axles and transmissions from Gaggenau).
The aim here was to achieve cost benefits generated by highly rationalised large-scale production, which in turn would serve to boost overall truck sales considerable and ultimately secure for the company nothing less than the leading position worldwide for trucks of over six tonnes GVW. The Group’s strategy at this time was to concentrate on the luxury-class passenger cars and to establish a presence where trucks were concerned as a full-range and mass producer.
This realignment of commercial vehicle strategy had become necessary as a result of the discontinuation of CKD (completely knocked down) deliveries to Brazil, India and Argentina; thus the only way to ensure utilisation of capacities in domestic plants was by developing new markets. But the key to success on the international market was Wörth. For Wörth meant large-scale production across the board and thus cost reductions that would benefit competitiveness on the global market.
The Annual Report of 1965 put it as follows: “By developing the Wörth plant, truck production will be brought into line with the same principle that has proved effective for many years in passenger car production – the separation of major assembly production and vehicle assembly. This approach means that production can be rapidly adapted to meet market requirements and that greater cost benefits of large-scale production can also be realised.”
It was a double premiere that was staged at the new Wörth plant on the River Rhine on July 14, 1965. Not only did the first completely assembled truck come off the production line, decorated with flowers and attended by the plant management. The launch of the Mercedes-Benz LP 608 also marked Daimler-Benz’s entry into the light-duty class, a big step on the company’s way to becoming a full-line producer.
In both respects, things went extraordinarily smoothly. In its first two years in production, the LP 608 cab-over-engine truck reached an impressive market share of 45 percent with a total of 10,000 units produced. It was the originator of the LP truck class ranging up to the LP 1113, and this series was to remain in production for a good 20 years and record a total volume of some 200,000 units.
Europe’s largest truck plant in next to no time
The Wörth plant, in its turn, being the central European production facility for trucks, developed into Europe’s largest truck plant in next to no time and continues to occupy this rank today with production figures that speak for themselves: since July 1965, the Wörth plant has turned out about 3.3 million trucks.
It all began on a much more modest scale and with a workforce of less than 100 employees. Wörth began producing truck cabs as early as October 1, 1963. Initially, however, the plant merely supplied primed cab shells for completion at the traditional locations, Gaggenau (heavy-duty trucks) and Mannheim (medium-duty trucks). In the first year, the Wörth plant produced over 22,000 cab shells. From December 1964, in-house manufacture was stepped up in that the interior equipment was also installed and the cab shells were painted at the new plant, starting with the cabs of the 314 model.
Centrally located between Mannheim and Gaggenau
Even geographically, Wörth seemed predestined to adopt the role as central plant. The new location, occasionally also referred to as Wörth Island, was ideally situated between the plants in Gaggenau and Mannheim, which had reached the limits of their combined capacity – 40,000 trucks annually – during the period of the economic miracle in Germany. The new plant, located in a former loop of the River Rhine, was required to overcome bottlenecks. The ground-breaking ceremony on the 1.5 million square kilometre site was held in March 1962.
It had been impossible to foresee the enormous development that would take its course on the premises acquired from the municipality of Wörth back in 1960. Initially, nothing more than an engine plant had been planned. But then in 1963, Daimler-Benz restructured its production activities, concentrating engine and bus production in Mannheim, and Unimog, axle and transmission production in Gaggenau.
It was not until 1964, however, that the final decision was made to unite all truck production and final assembly activities in Wörth. Other facets of the division of labour within the company at the time were as follows: Mannheim would not only continue producing truck engines but also retain bus production; Düsseldorf was to concentrate on all van models up to four tonnes (later up to six tonnes); Berlin was to assemble complete passenger car, truck and industrial engines and supply vehicle parts; Sindelfingen manufactured passenger cars, and Untertürkheim produced a diversified range of engines; and Gaggenau supplied axles, transmissions and individual components.
Full capacity utilisation reached as early as 1969
Initially the Wörth plant had been constructed for an annual capacity of 48,000 trucks. This volume was reached as early as 1969. Despite the first minor post-war recession in 1966/67, everything ran like clockwork: 800 trucks left the factory in 1965. Production of the LP 608 had been relocated completely from Mannheim to Wörth by the end of that year. Production of medium-duty trucks and CKD (completely knocked down) shipments to assembly plants all over the world began in 1966.
What was once conceived as an engine plant was now itself the motor for the industrialisation of the commercial vehicle business. A glance at the export quota for the domestic plants reveals the extent to which exports were growing during the period: export figures for 1960 were 35.8 percent, rising to 41.7 percent in 1966 and 47.2 percent by 1969.
With the addition of the administrative building, training workshop and staff restaurant, the plant was gradually completed, with the new assembly hall at its heart. At a length of 750 metres (today 1,000 metres) and a width of 50 metres, this was ranked as one of the largest automotive assembly halls worldwide. The fact that both series were produced on one and the same line was seen at the time as a drawback, but it would ultimately prove a blessing. Production was extremely flexible from the very start. Although trucks were not given names at the time, commonly used designations such as “light-duty Wörther” or “heavy-duty Wörther” made clear reference to the vehicles’ origin.
Next target: 100,000 units annually
From 1969 onwards, Daimler-Benz raised the capacity of the plant step by step. The aim was to produce 100,000 units annually. The factory was extended twice until this target was reached – with exactly 105,200 units coming off the production line in 1975. Long before this point in time, Daimler-Benz had relocated the replacement parts warehousing facilities from Gaggenau and Mannheim and concentrated all relevant activities at the central parts warehouse in Wörth, which started operations in 1972. From 1973, Wörth produced the heavy-duty New Generation trucks which had been systematically designed according to the modular principle. Ten years after production start-up, the 500,000th truck left the plant – by which time around 8,700 people were employed on the island in the River Rhine.
All the while, the proportion of plastic components in motor vehicle manufacture had been rising continuously. It was therefore only logical for Wörth to launch activities in this sector as well. The job of moulder was added to the wide spectrum of professions represented at the plant when, in 1977, Wörth assumed responsibility for the production of plastic components for both passenger cars and trucks. The production of aerated-plastic parts for passenger cars also migrated from Sindelfingen to Wörth.
In the 1980s the New Generation was replaced by the NG 80 and the oldest generation of vehicles from Wörth was discontinued. From 1984, the light-duty LP vehicles were replaced by the LK (Light Class) series with permissible gross weights between 6.5 and 13 tonnes and serving this segment with as many as ten basic models, from the 709 through to the 1320. Distinguishing visual features of the new series were slanting side windows – a design first introduced on the TN vans.
Four years later, the NG 80 models in the heavy-duty class were replaced by the legendary SK series, now also with slanted side windows, which remained in production as the New Generation’s grandchildren until 1996. In was at this time, too, that the parts warehouses in Wörth and Sindelfingen gradually reached their limits of capacity. As a consequence, the entire replacement parts business was relocated to a new central parts warehouse in Germersheim near Wörth, which entered service in 1989.
Manufacturing more flexible than ever
Production also changed fundamentally. Conventional automating concepts were no longer suitable for coping with the increasingly complex tasks (permanently growing number of variants and fluctuating unit figures). Under the slogan “Body-in-white production 2000”, a facility that permitted maximum integration was built in 1992 for the welding of all cab versions. The idea of a flexible body-in-white production facility had been born.
The procedures for fitting out the cabs also proved capable of improvement. Optimized production processes and material flows characterized the newly organized unit, which started operations – more effectively and more flexibly than ever before – in 1995.
Change-over to Actros production in record time
This created the best possible conditions for the start of the new Actros heavy-duty truck, which followed in the tracks of the SK in 1996. The change-over of production facilities to this heavy-duty truck, newly designed from the ground up, was completed in record time. But that was not all. In 1997, the LK and MK series were replaced by the new light-duty and medium-duty trucks from the Atego series. In 1998, the Atego line-up was complemented by the addition of the heavy-duty Atego – a combination of Actros chassis and Atego cab.
From 2002, the Wörth plant also produced the new heavy-duty Axor truck, designed for particularly high payloads in medium-duty long-distance transport as well as in heavy-duty short-radius distribution. Also, in August 2002, Unimog production moved from Gaggenau to Wörth. At the same time, the plant prepared itself for production start-up of the second-generation Actros (from January 2003); that same year, Wörth also assumed responsibility for the production of the Econic, the municipal specialist vehicle. The third member of the family produced at Wörth was the off-road specialist Zetros, which Mercedes-Benz unveiled at the IAA in 2008.
Capacity for over 110,000 units
Today, at peak periods some 110,000 complete units come off the assembly lines of the Wörth plant annually, now enlarged to an area covering 2.4 square kilometres and employing over 11,000 people. In the record-breaking year of 2008, for example, the number of trucks built – in what is an extremely complex production process – totalled 113,000. For the Actros, construction Actros, Axor and Atego models alone there are around 500 cab designs and more than 2,400 special variants.
It helps, of course, to have key suppliers and their manufacturing facilities located directly on plant premises. The Wörth industrial estate covers an area of approximately 5,000 square metres and accommodates half a dozen companies which do their manufacturing on site (e.g. seats and bunks) before delivering directly to the production line.
In total the plant works with approximately 1000 suppliers. Around half of all parts are supplied either “just in time” or “just in sequence”. Work on the production line has changed radically over the years. Today the various groups in the production process organise every aspect of their work themselves, including scheduling of holidays. Employees across all shifts manage their individual working times at the site, placing fundamental importance on transparency. Large displays keep each group involved in production constantly up to date regarding agreed objectives such as quality key performance indicators, audit results and the number of work days lost due to illness.
Robots of astonishing flexibility
Another symbol of optimised flexibility is the plant machinery – for example, the robots that are used in body-in-white cab production. Each production cell can build any cab from the extremely broad range in any sequence. The individual components are supplied by driverless transportation systems – making this process unique in automotive construction worldwide.
Since 2007 the plant has no longer been known simply as “Werk Wörth” but as “Mercedes-Benz Wörth”. At the Group’s extraordinary general meeting the decision was taken to rename the plant as part of the renaming process from DaimlerChrysler AG to Daimler AG. Henceforth all production locations turning out components or vehicles for the Mercedes-Benz brand now traded under the Mercedes-Benz name. At the same time as the plants were renamed, the truck division at Daimler AG also changed its name: the Mercedes-Benz brands, Freightliner, Western Star, Thomas Built Buses and Mitsubishi Fuso were all subsumed under the Daimler Trucks (previously: Daimler Truck Group).
Daimler Trucks now intermeshed development and production operations closer than ever. For Mercedes-Benz Wörth this meant the setting up of a new Development and Test Center (EVZ), which began operations in 2008. The Group invested around
80 million euros in the new facilities, which comprised three elements: an indoor test area with numerous rough and potholed tracks and 14 different track profiles, a function testing area in the form of a test track, and thirdly a workshop area and office complex. In total the new EVZ employed a workforce of around 300 people.
Attractive offers for all truck needs
Although the work of the Development and Test Center takes place largely out of public view, this does little to diminish the fundamental openness and friendliness of the plant itself. Visitors still come in their thousands to take guided tours of the plant. And an even larger number of visitors head for the Customer Center to collect their new truck. The former “self-collection hall” has long since developed into a state-of-the-art Customer Center, where customers can not only collect their new trucks but also receive instruction about its engineering.
For some time now the Center has also offered drivers and visitors special truck seminars and driver training courses. Although the themes focus mainly on safe and economical driving, training is also available on specific themes relating to the motor vehicle and transportation industries. Since 2009 Wörth has also become a venue for further training courses, which truck drivers are now regularly required to attend in line with the law on professional driver training.
Application Information Center – a globally unique facility
Dedicated to various individual sectors of industry, the Application Information Center (BIC) opened its doors in 2000 – the only institution of its kind worldwide that not only provides customers with sound advice but also permits direct comparison of many complete packages for individual industrial sectors on site. Numerous different Actros, Atego, Axor, Econic and Zetros models complete with superstructures and equipment are available here for comparison and testing.
In September 1991, as a further body variant of the 124 series Mercedes-Benz presented the 300 CE-24 Cabriolet. Production began in 1992. Cabriolet development was based on the Coupé, and in terms of mechanical components the Cabriolets were identical with their four-door counterparts. Like the Saloons they were equipped with multi-link independent rear suspension, thereby further improving ride quality compared with predecessor models, as well as shock absorber strut independent front suspension located by individual wishbones. The braking system was also borrowed without modification from the Saloons.
After a great investment of engineering know-how, the two-door was prepared for its role as an open-topped car – adequate stiffening of the body alone required the redesign of 1000 parts. Each Cabriolet needed a total of more than 130 kilograms of additional sheet metal to structurally compensate for the 28 kilograms lost from the Coupé roof and to meet the safety standards that applied to the Saloons, Estates and Coupés of the series. Body vibrations, a system-related weak point of open cars, were eliminated by four vibration absorbers fitted in the left shock absorber strut, the roof frame and the side boot recesses.
To make up for the lack of side roof frame, the A-pillars were welded together with metal sections inside the pillars to form a sturdy unit in the area prone to buckling. This enabled the vehicle to achieve stability levels similar to those of a saloon in the critical roof impact test; extreme tests in which the entire vehicle was suspended by an
A-pillar provided a particularly impressive demonstration of the robustness of the design. This combination of A-pillar and automatic rollover bar produced a fully-fledged safety system. Specifically for the 300 CE-24 Cabriolet, a linear bar arranged behind the rear seats was developed that extended almost perpendicularly within 0.3 seconds in the event of a rollover. Simultaneously it served rear-seat passengers as a head restraint. For this purpose the rollover protection could also be extended and retracted manually.
Complex soft top design
The fully retractable top impressed with an abundance of well-thought-out technical details. Retracted, the high-precision structure, which weighed 43 kilograms and had 27 linkage parts and 34 joints, occupied a mere 80 litres of space, so that the car still had a generously proportioned boot. The large heated rear window made of safety glass was screwed flush with the outer skin by a double frame, affording undistorted rear vision. To improve the convenience of operation, as an optional extra there was an electrohydraulic actuation system for the top. Ten valves and twelve electric limit switches controlled the perfect sequence of three swivelling movements, as well as the correct engagement of the different locking mechanisms, and monitored the closed condition when the car was on the move.
As with the Mercedes-Benz Coupés of the day, a belt feeder automatically brought the seat belt to a comfortable position once the driver or front passenger had taken up position. This comfort feature was necessary because with the absence of a B-pillar the seat belts were mounted comparatively far back.
Under its bonnet the 300 CE-24 had a four-valve six-cylinder M 104 engine, the unit that had been presented in the SL of the R 129 series. In the four-seater Cabriolet it developed an output of 162 kW at 6400 rpm.
Six months after series production start-up the 300 CE-24 Cabriolet, along with all other vehicles in the 124 series, received a much higher-quality standard equipment package. The scope of delivery now included driver’s airbag and electrically adjustable left and right exterior mirrors. The Cabriolet was equipped as standard from production start-up with central locking and five-speed transmission, features that were simultaneously adopted as basic equipment in the 124 series.
In June 1993 the 300 CE-24 Cabriolet along with all 124 series models, was revised, stylistically updated and adapted in line with the other model series. The most striking feature of the modified vehicles was the radiator grille, which was redesigned after the S-Class. This so-called integrated radiator featured a much narrower chrome surround compared with the previous design, and the Mercedes star sat on the bonnet as in the S-Class saloons. The light units were also noticeably modified to include colourless glass covers on the front direction indicators and bi-chromatic covers on the taillights, which were uniformly tinted white-grey over the indicators and reversing lights. The yellow indicator light was thus generated front and rear from coloured bulbs. Other modifications were made to the bumpers, where the protective mouldings were now painted the colour of other detachable parts. In addition, the protective strip on the rear bumper was extended to the wheel cut-outs.
Facelift brings new engines
As part of this model refinement package the Cabriolet was not only updated visually, it was also equipped with a range of new engines that had already been introduced into the other body variants in the intermediate class in October 1992. In the Cabriolet the proven 3.0-litre four-valve unit was now succeeded by the 3.2-litre six-cylinder with four-valve technology. Compared with its predecessor it had an equivalent rated output of 162 kW, but achieved this at 900 rpm earlier; maximum torque was considerably higher and also achieved at lower engine speeds. Exhaust and noise emissions were thereby effectively reduced.
A fundamental innovation was also the offer of a four-cylinder variant of the Cabriolet at over 20,000 Deutschmarks cheaper than its six-cylinder counterpart. The new entry-level model had the 136 kW, 2.2-litre, four-valve engine, which since its appearance in October 1992 had served in the Saloon, the Estate and the Coupé of the 124 series.
The Cabriolet was also fitted with the 2-litre version of the four-cylinder, four-valve engine exclusively for export to Italy, Greece and Portugal; this unit generated an output of 100 kW and had served since October 1992 in the export version of the Coupé.
All three variants were now equipped as standard with the electrohydraulic soft top, previously only available at extra cost, which additionally featured a modified interior covering with improved warmth and noise insulation.
To coincide with the sales launch of the redesigned models, a new nomenclature also came into effect for the 124 series in June 1993. Analogous with the S-Class and the new C-Class, the intermediate class was now called the E-Class. The model designations also followed a modified system, in which letters documented a car’s membership of a certain class. The letter(s) were followed by a three-digit number based as previously on engine displacement. The E suffix that was formerly used to indicate a petrol engine with fuel injection could now be dropped, since carburettor engines were now a thing of the past and coding with a “C” or a “T” to denote the plainly obvious body variant was also deemed superfluous. In line with the new system of nomenclature the Cabriolets were now known as the E 220 Cabriolet and E 320 Cabriolet; however, the nameplate identified only the model’s class and displacement.
From September 1993 on there was also a more powerful variant for the Cabriolet enthusiast with sporting ambition in the form of the E 36 AMG, which was equipped with a 195 kW, 3.6-litre four-valve engine from AMG. The new top-of-the-range Cabriolet could also be told apart from its less dynamic sister models by its discreetly enlarged add-on parts. The front spoiler, side skirts and rear apron were painted in the same colour as the car and harmoniously integrated into the body shape; the overall image was completed with standard-fit AMG-designed alloy rims (diameter: 43.2 centimetres).
In order to offer customers with less performance-oriented ambitions a more affordable entry-level model, the E 200 Cabriolet, which had been produced since July 1993 for export, was brought into the domestic sales range in March 1994. Its price tag was more than 10,000 Deutschmarks below the cost of the 2.2-litre variant, although this saving was accounted for by a number of deletions from the equipment package: alloy wheels, leather upholstery and heated seats no longer came as part of standard equipment as with the sister models, but were available at extra cost.
Built until July 1997, the E-Class Cabriolet was the last variant of the 124 series to remain in production. In total 33,952 examples were produced, 15,380 with four-cylinder engines and 18,572 with six-cylinder engines. The proportion of E 320 Cabriolets sold for export was above average at over 75 percent, a fact that has long been part of Mercedes-Benz tradition, particularly where the more exclusive models in the company’s passenger car range are concerned.
Production figures for Mercedes-Benz A 124 series (1991 to 1997)
| Models | Internal designation | Production period: pre-production to end | Number of units |
| 300 CE-24 Cabriolet | A 124 E 30/2 | 1990 – 1993 | 6343 |
| E 200 Cabriolet | A 124 E 20/2 | 1993 – 1997 | 6922 |
| E 220 Cabriolet | A 124 E 22 | 1992 – 1997 | 8458 |
| E 320 Cabriolet | A 124 E 32 | 1992 – 1997 | 12,229 |
| E 36 AMG Cabriolet | A 124 E 36 | 1993 – 1997 | * |
| Total | 33,952 |
* not documented separately
In 1991, the Mercedes-Benz C 112 research vehicle was introduced to the world at the IAA in Frankfurt, Germany. The C 112 served as a technological prototype – a test vehicle and super sports car all-in-one – and was capable of reaching a top speed of over 300 km/h. Built in “near to series” conditions, the mid-engine racer was used by Mercedes-Benz exclusively for research purposes, and it was built with one goal: to positively influence driving stability using new electronically regulated assistance systems. The result? One of the systems pioneered on the C 112 is the Active Body Control (ABC Suspension), now in series production on a variety of Mercedes models.
Watch the video for yourself to learn more about the Mercedes-Benz C 112 and its many features.
In October 1990, Daimler-Benz and AMG signed a contract in which the partners agreed to engage in intensive cooperation in the development, production, sales and servicing of passenger cars and passenger-car parts. The first jointly developed AMG high-performance car – the Mercedes-Benz C 36 AMG – was presented in 1993. As a matter of course, it was built in accordance with the manufacturing principle adopted by AMG – “One Man, One Engine” – which is fully in keeping with the tradition of Gottlieb Daimler. AMG strives to live up to the high-performance claim which Daimler already made on his riding car of 1885. The latter’s engine developed half a horsepower from a displacement of 624 cubic centimeters and gave the riding car a top speed of 16 km/h – top performance at the time and proof of the possibility of making the concentrated power of a machine available to a human being. AMG is pursuing this philosophy with every vehicle, thereby striving for Gottlieb Daimler’s vision of individual mobility.
Enthusiastic customers all over the world and a unique, well-known brand – since 1967 Mercedes-AMG GmbH has been developing from a motorsport and tuning company into a supplier of exclusive high-performance cars. Thanks to the integration in the DaimlerChrysler Group, begun in 1999 and completed in 2005, Mercedes-AMG is able to make even better use of the Group’s resources and its worldwide strength.
International breakthrough in the 24-hour race in Spa-Francorchamps
The name AMG stands for the initials of the two founders, Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher; the third letter in the company name derives from Großaspach, the town where Aufrecht was born. The official designation of the newly founded company of three was “Engineering Office, Design and Testing for the Development of Race Engines”. The company’s headquarters was an old mill in Burgstall near Affalterbach in south-west Germany. The success story of the Swabian company began with specially prepared Mercedes-Benz cars which were entered in racing. The year 1971 saw the company’s international breakthrough when, to everyone’s complete surprise, a Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.8 AMG finished first in its class and second in the overall ranking in the 24-hour race in Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium), in which drivers Hans Heyer and Clemens Schickendanz had been taking turns at the wheel of the racing sedan – and AMG became famous overnight.
Customers’ wishes for dynamic handling and individuality provide for upswing
This success boosted the company’s renown enormously and helped AMG in making Mercedes-Benz cars faster and more attractive. The desire for more dynamic handling and individuality, growing in the 1970s, was responsible for a veritable upswing. Before very long, the company’s headquarters in Burgstall became too small and in 1978, AMG, employing 40 people at the time, moved to Affalterbach.
The first Mercedes-Benz tuner, AMG developed into a pioneer for the entire industry in the course of the years. Right from the start, the transfer of technology from motorsport to series production has been part of AMG’s corporate philosophy and has remained a trademark of AMG to this day. The company’s renown was further enhanced by top-class accomplishments in technology and first-grade quality resulting from AMG’s motorsport commitment.
Prominent Mercedes fans discover AMG
And AMG continued to grow. In 1985 plant no. 2 was opened and the 100th member of staff employed. Affalterbach attracted interested parties from all over the world: prominent AMG fans recruited from the spheres of motorsport, movie-making and music, sports, industry and international royalty. The special and – at times – very special wishes of this demanding clientele time and again gave rise to out-of-the-ordinary one-off cars which AMG designed and built with great innovative drive, outstanding passion and all-encompassing expertise.
Cooperation contract of 1990 opens up new possibilities for AMG
The cooperation agreed between Daimler-Benz and AMG in 1990 opened up completely new possibilities for the medium-sized company. From then on, AMG cars were sold and serviced by the world-wide sales network of Mercedes-Benz – improving acceptance on the part of the customers decisively. Continued expansion led to the opening of plant no. 3, and the workforce grew to 400. In 1993, the German Patent and Trademark Office registered the acronym AMG as a trademark, thereby acknowledging the brand’s high level of recognition. The C 36 AMG launched in the same year was the first jointly developed AMG high-performance car of which over 5,000 units were produced until 1997. Similar successes were recorded with the E 50 AMG and E 55 AMG in the following years.
Another milestone was the integration of AMG in the DaimlerChrysler Group on January 1, 1999, when Hans Werner Aufrecht transferred 51 percent of his stake to the newly founded Mercedes-AMG GmbH. The motorsport department was hived off and renamed H.W.A. GmbH. In the immediate vicinity of Mercedes-AMG, some 210 employees are now taking care of AMG’s long-term activities in the DTM (German Touring Car Masters) together with Mercedes-Benz Motorsport.
Modernization and expansion in Affalterbach starting in 2000
Parallel to this, the location in Affalterbach was expanded and modernized. New representative buildings and the latest test rigs demonstrate the exceptional position of this traditional company to visitors at first glance. In the new AMG engine manufacturing department, the most progressive production processes are applied to build the powerful AMG high-performance engines in keeping with the AMG philosophy “One Man, One Engine”. By 2005, the company premises had grown from 41,300 to 57,750 square meters; at the same time, the roofed area in all buildings more than doubled from some 20,000 to 42,850 square meters.
In January 2005 DaimlerChrysler took over the remaining shares and has since been the sole stockholder of Mercedes-AMG GmbH. With this move, DaimlerChrysler secured the competence, the experience and the manpower of a partner who has over the years become the epitome of success in international motorsport, in manufacturing exclusive high-performance cars and in creating dynamic designs. This exemplary success story is borne out by the sales figures. Sales of Mercedes-AMG GmbH rose from 11,500 units in 2000 to over 20,000 units in 2004. The workforce also reached a new record level: some 680 people are currently employed at the location in Affalterbach (as per October 2005).
Since September 1, 2005, the company management has been made up of Volker Mornhinweg (chairman), Wolf Zimmermann (Development and Production) and Domingos Piedade (Sales, Marketing and Global Relations).
Mercedes-AMG: Responsibility for all processes
Being the Performance Division of the DaimlerChrysler Group,Mercedes-AMG assumes responsibility for all processes in the development of chassis, engine, drive system, suspension, brakes, electronics, aerodynamics, interior, design and quality through to the approval of the complete AMG car. In addition, Mercedes-AMG takes care of all aspects which are relevant for marketing and sales – completely independently. A traditional strength of AMG is the realization of particularly individual customer wishes: in the AMG Manufacture, specialists come up with tailor-made and out-of-the-ordinary solutions and create unique, one-off cars to meet customer wishes – “one man, one engine” – incorporating the highest quality standards as a matter of course.
The AMG Manufacture is also the place where the SLK 55 AMG used as the official FIA Formula One Safety Car and the C 55 AMG station wagon serving as Medical Car were set up. AMG’s long-term commitment to Formula One began in 1984 with a specially developed Mercedes-Benz E-Class coupe for use as Medical Car. After sporadic activities in the following years, Mercedes-AMG has been providing the FIA Safety Car regularly in what is the ninth successive season now. It began with the C 36 AMG in 1996 and continued with the first CLK 55 AMG in 1997, the CL 55 AMG in 2000 and the SL 55 AMG one year later. The new CLK 55 AMG made its debut in 2003, and since 2004, the new SLK 55 AMG has been ensuring safety on Formula One race-tracks.
Mercedes-Benz has been providing popemobiles since 1930. In the summer of that year, 80 years ago, Pope Pius XI received a Mercedes-Benz Nürburg 460 as a present from Daimler-Benz AG. In the following decades, Mercedes-Benz supplied the Vatican with several extensively converted limousines, landaulets and offroaders as official cars for the Holy Father. For three quarters of a century, there have therefore been close relations between the Stuttgart-based automotive brand and the Roman Supreme Pontiff.
The passenger was enthusiastic. It was clear for all to see that Pope Pius XI had enjoyed the one-hour trial run in his new Mercedes-Benz through the Vatican gardens. “A masterpiece of modern engineering,” the Holy Father enthused when he climbed out of the Pullman limousine based on the Mercedes-Benz Nürburg 460. The elegant car with the three-pointed star on the engine hood had been handed over to him by a Daimler-Benz delegation and was to go down in history in subsequent years – as the first automobile to be regularly used by a pope.
This Mercedes-Benz handed over to Pope Pius XI 80 years ago was nothing less than the beginning of close relations between the Vatican and the Stuttgart-based motor manufacturer. In the decades that followed, Mercedes-Benz regularly presented the Vatican with automobiles which had been extensively converted for the pope. During the last 30 years, television and newspaper photos made the popemobiles based on Mercedes-Benz offroaders from the G-Class and M-Class particularly well known. Especially the travels of Pope John Paul II made the offroaders, finished in the papal colors mother-of-pearl and gold and fitted with the characteristic glass cupola, famous throughout the world. However, the landaulets and limousines based on the S-Class equally form part of the pope’s public appearances.
The Mercedes-Benz Nürburg and the current papal car, an M-Class with special bodywork, are the cornerstones of the brand history of automobiles from Stuttgart specially manufactured for the Holy Father. The first modern model after World War II was a Mercedes-Benz 300 d – the “Adenauer-Mercedes” – handed over to Pope John XXIII by rep-resentatives from Untertürkheim in 1960, 30 years after Pope Pius XI’s trial run in the Nürburg. The Mercedes-Benz 300 d had been converted into a landaulet with extended wheelbase – with a soft-top above the rear compartment and a hard-top above the front seats.
In 1965, a delegation from Stuttgart handed over a landaulet version of the Mercedes-Benz 600 to Pope Paul VI at the papal summer residence. In the following two years, as many as three cars – model 300 SEL from the 109 series – were supplied. For the visit of Pope John Paul II to Germany in 1980, Mercedes-Benz developed the first popemobile with a transparent superstructure based on an offroader – a converted G-Class car which was given to the Vatican as a present in 1982. In 1985, the Vatican’s fleet was extended by the addition of a special version of the Mercedes-Benz 500 SEL (W 126), followed in 1997 by a long-wheelbase landaulet version of the S 500. In the summer of 2002, finally, DaimlerChrysler presented the Holy Father with a popemobile set up on the proven example of the G-Class, only this time the car was based on the ML 430 from the M-Class.
Tradition and dignity
Starting with the Nürburg, the history of popemobiles from Mercedes-Benz ranges through to the 2002 M-Class, reflecting a relationship between the Holy See and the Stuttgart-based automotive brand, which has developed and thrived through several pontificates. And this relationship has time and again been expressed by the close cooperation between Mercedes-Benz and the Vatican in the design and manufacture of new automobiles for the pope.
The popes themselves have held their Mercedes-Benz cars in high esteem, too. When the M-Class was handed over to Pope John Paul II in Rome in 2002, the Holy Father himself addressed the media with the plea rather not to use “papa-mobile”, the term not being commensurate with the dignity and purpose of these automobiles.
Sedan-chairs and carriages
For many centuries, the popes used carriages and sedan-chairs for journeys, processions and other public appearances. A very special role was played by the Sedia Gestatoria, the papal sedan-chair. It was carried by twelve “palafrenieri” in red uniforms at events of high litur-gical significance for large congregations. Its purpose was much the same as that of modern popemobiles with their raised seats: the Holy Father was to be seen also from quite a distance by the faithful at important events, attended by large crowds of guests and spectators.
After the invention of the automobile in 1886, it took several decades before the Vatican used a motor vehicle for the pope for the first time. The reason for this was not a reservation against modern engineering but Italian politics. The Papal States had been dissolved when the Italian nation was founded in 1870. King Vittorio Emanuele II had offered Pope Pius IX limited sovereignty which the latter had, however, refused to accept. In the following six decades, the popes did not leave Vatican City out of protest against the unsolved “Roman Question”.
This situation did not change before 1929 with the signing of the Lateran Pacts by Secretary-of-State Pietro Cardinal Gasparri for the Vatican and Prime Minister Benito Mussolini for the Kingdom of Italy. In these contracts, the Vatican recognized Rome as the capital of the Italian nation and in turn, the kingdom recognized the Vatican’s territorial sovereignty in Vatican City and the papal summer residence, Castel Gandolfo. The signing of the Lateran Pacts in 1929 not only gave the pope new weight on the international political stage but also ended the Supreme Pontiff’s confinement to Vatican City, which had lasted almost 60 years.
A Mercedes-Benz for the pope?
For his trips to the summer residence, Castel Gandolfo, but also for other journeys, the Holy Father would now use an automobile in the future more often. Luxurious motor vehicles had already been presented to the Vatican since 1909. During the first quarter of the 20th century, the fleet encompassed vehicles from brands like Fiat, Bianchi, Graham-Paige, Itala, Citroën and others. But the pope would not be chauffeured around in a motor vehicle – he didn’t after all need a car in an area with a size of just 44 hectares (108.7 acres) – small enough to be walked around comfortably in just one hour. Apart from this, neither Pope Pius X (1903 – 1914) nor his successor Benedict XV (1914 – 1922) were known to be particularly interested in the modern engineering of the motor vehicle. Not so Pope Pius XI (1922 – 1939) who was fascinated by the opportunities offered by the motor vehicle and promptly started using the Vatican fleet’s vehicles shortly after the signing of the Lateran Pacts.
And why was the Holy Father not to undertake his travels in a Mercedes-Benz? This was the question asked in the spring of 1929 by Robert Katzenstein, the advertising man of Mercedes-Benz in Frankfurt/Main, Germany. From this question evolved the idea of a limousine individually converted for the pope as a present of Mercedes-Benz for the Vatican. How would the Vatican react to such a present from Germany?
Katzenstein knew Dr. Diego von Bergen, the German ambassador to the Vatican, and presented the idea to him. Von Bergen asked the right people at the Holy See how the Curia would respond to the present of an imposing Mercedes-Benz as an official car for the pope. The answer from Rome turned out to be so encouraging that Katzenstein submitted his proposal to corporate management without delay. The project of a Mercedes-Benz popemobile also met with agreement in Stuttgart and detailed planning began as early as the summer of 1929.
The 140 series S-Class Saloons gave a clear message when they were introduced in 1991 at the Geneva Motor Show – their size and design lent them an imposing appearance, combined with highest comfort and lavish interior spaciousness. All of these features are an appropriate fit for a Mercedes-Benz S-Class, and yet the model was continuoulsly attacked by critics upon its release. Naysayers complained it had turned out too big, which brought disadvantages in everyday use, and on top of that was out of step with the times.
Such opinions were voiced mainly in Europe., in the USA or in Asia, for example, many customers took exactly the opposite view. For them, the 140 series was an S-Class in exactly the right format – precisely because of its impressive appearance, which to them was simply befitting of a vehicle in which the world’s successful, wealthy and political leaders could either drive themselves or be driven. This divergence of opinions was to accompany the saloons of the 140 model series from that point on, and the successor series launched in 1998, the 220, turned out rather more discreet. Nevertheless, the 140 series received a great deal of praise from all sides. In 1991, for example, the trade magazine Auto, Motor und Sport, Germany, went as far as to write: “It would not be wrong here to describe this as the world’s finest car – any less would be to do Mercedes an injustice.”
The world’s finest car – that is quite a claim. But it is one Mercedes-Benz and its predecessor brands have been living up to since the beginnings of the automobile. For the 140 series the engineers and designers addressed the task with the greatest dedication. Leaving aside the sheer dimensions of the body, one has to give great credit to the stylists under the supervision of chief designer Bruno Sacco: what they drafted was a luxury-class saloon with clear lines that unmistakably established its connection with brand history, yet at the same time delivered a statement for the 1990s and were almost timeless in character. Almost twenty years on, a 140 series S-Class is still an extremely handsome car.
The high standard applied to the vehicle was reflected in all details. For instance, the interior, so lavishly appointed, simultaneously demonstrated the restraint desired by the majority of S-Class customers. Spaciousness and features made the time spent in a 140 series S-Class an absolute enjoyment. That was also true of the driver’s seating position: perfectly equipped, it made even extremely long journeys exceedingly pleasurable.
The suspension also played a part in this. The engineers used all their resourcefulness and skill to design it: not only was travel in the saloon extremely safe on any road surface, it was also extremely comfortably. In addition to excellent springing, the body was decoupled from audible and otherwise perceptible vibrations. And although the 140 series S-Class was a big car, customers and motor journalists all over the world nevertheless praised it for its road manners – it was fleet-footed and able to negotiate even winding country roads impeccably at speed.
Typical of the great effort invested by Mercedes-Benz in this vehicle, for example, was the double insulated glazing, which benefited safety and comfort in several ways: avoidance of fogging (condensation) and icing, enhanced thermal insulation, enhanced insulation against external sources of noise, better flow of air around the vehicle and prevention of wind noises caused by window seals. Never before had car windows been so meticulously designed.
The high safety standard already attained in the previous series was clearly raised further by numerous measures. For example, the body structure of the 140 series afforded still more protection in all types of accidents. A number of details – solutions designed to take the sharpness out of potential points of contact – served the protection of other road users as well. The braking system was state-of-the-art, delivering optimum deceleration values. From 1995 onwards the Electronic Stability Program ESP® was additionally available, initially for the eight-cylinder S-Class model and later for all models with automatic transmission. In the S 600 it was standard equipment. After December 1996 all models additionally featured the Brake Assist BAS, which optimally increased braking power under emergency braking and shortened the stopping distance.
As was customary in the S-Class, six- and eight-cylinder engines were available to power the car – from 1991 on there was even a twelve-cylinder power plant. This unit epitomised the art of engine making, but the other units too enabled a mobility ideally suited to the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. All were fitted as standard with an emission control system featuring a closed-loop catalytic converter, and consequently satisfied comprehensive environmental standards.
At the same time these engines were symbols of the longevity of the 140 series – they, and, of course, the entire vehicle, were designed for very high mileages and thus for years and years of use. That made the 140 series S-Class well suited for use as a modern classic: anyone who buys one today, acquires a vehicle built to meet the highest requirements. In that sense it is part of the remarkable tradition of the luxury-class saloons of the Mercedes-Benz brand, which together with its predecessor brands goes back to the beginnings of the automobile.
Mercedes-Benz’s excellent spare parts supply has helped maintain a modern classic: almost every part can be procured through a Mercedes-Benz dealer and the company’s own ordering system; delivery is usually made overnight. Some authorised service shops have even been designated Classic Partners, possessing outstanding competence in handling older vehicles. And particularly where young classics are concerned, all Mercedes-Benz company-owned sales and service outlets and partners boast the same high levels of expertise as ever. Not for nothing does the slogan “Service for a lifetime” apply to all vehicles of the brand.
Production Figures for the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Saloon 140 Series (1991-1998)
| Models | Internal designation | Production period: preproduction to end | Number of units |
| 300 SD/S 350 Turbodiesel | W 140 D 35 A | 1990 – 1996 | 20,518 |
| S 300 Turbodiesel | W 140 D 30 LA | 1995 – 1998 | 7583 |
| 300 SE 2.8/S 280 | W 140 E 28 | 1992 – 1998 | 22,784 |
| 300 SE/S 320 | W 140 E 32 | 1990 – 1998 | 98,095 |
| 300 SEL/S 320 long-wheelbase | V 140 E 32 | 1990 – 1998 | 85,346 |
| 400 SE/S 420 | W 140 E 42 | 1990 – 1998 | 14,277 |
| 400 SEL/S 420 long-wheelbase | V 140 E 42 | 1990 – 1998 | 35,191 |
| 500 SE/S 500 | W 140 E 50 | 1990 – 1998 | 21,942 |
| 500 SEL/S 500 long-wheelbase | V 140 E 50 | 1990 – 2000 | 65,065 |
| 600 SE/S 600 | W 140 E 60 | 1990 – 1998 | 3399 |
| 600 SEL/S 600 long-wheelbase | V 140 E 60 | 1990 – 2000 | 32,517 |
| Total | 406,717 |