Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is a Daimler AGDaimlerGermany, 1889 > present12 models
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Group brand, which has always been recognized for its quality and durability reputation, ever since it was created. The German Daimler AG Group was founded in 1924 when factories Benz & Cie.BenzGermany, 1882 > 192650 models
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and Daimler merged into one sole company.

Benz Patent-Motorwagen, 1886

© photo courtesy of: Benz

Benz & Cie. had been the greatest firm ever founded by German businessman Karl Friedrich Benz (1844-1929), who actually invented the world’s first internal combustion engine-moved automobile, in 1885, which only had three wheels. Not only Benz’s company has become the first automobile assembly line by the late 19th century, but it also became the world’s largest by the beginning of the 20th century.

As for the Daimler enterprise, it was founded in 1890 by Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900) and his partner Wilhelm Maybach (1846-1929). Five years before that, Daimler and the designer Maybach had build the first ever gas-moved engine prototype.

Just like Benz & Cie., the Daimler business was located in the south of German too. Although oddly both these south German companies didn’t know about the existence of one another, they both had that same goal that was to create the first internal combustion engine for an automobile.

Austrian racing enthusiast Emil Jellinek, who was also a car dealer, is who the brand name “Mercedes” is due to, as he asked Maybach to built a special model to him, which would be given to Jellinek on the December 22nd. DMG (Daimler company) had started this car’s production in 1899 and named it after Jellinek’s daughter, Mércédès Jellinek. Also, the fresh new engine applied was called “Daimler-Mercedes”.

Nevertheless, this special edition model was build under an agreement made between Emil Jellinek and DMG, in which Jellinek promised he would buy 36 of those vehicles (estimated in 550.000 DM) if DMG would label that model as the “Mercedes 35 hp”Mercedes Mercedes 35 hpGermany, 1900 > 19002 versions
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and make Jellinek the official sales manager in France, Austria, Hungary, Belgium and United States.

The first Mercedes, 1900

© photo courtesy of: Daimler AG

Given the public’s extremely positive approval, DMG then chose to officially register the brand name “Mercedes”MercedesGermany, 1900 > 192648 models
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(September 1902) and use it as the official designation for all the models of their vehicle production line.

By that time, Daimler and Benz were one another’s biggest threat and main rivals, for they worked on the same business and goals. However, by the end of World War I, the German market was extremely vulnerable, facing large difficulties and dramatic sales drop. So in order to overcome those economic obstacles, they both agreed to sign down a mutual help contract in 1924, which consisted on the cooperative union between the two companies until the year 2000.

Nevertheless, both parts (Daimler and Benz) kept on producing their own independent cars and brands. Plus, when finally Daimler-Benz was established, in 1926, each one of the companies set up their own trade badge, even though they jointly advertised their products for a period of time.

After the companies joined together, Karl Benz decided to leave his mark on the Mercedes brand, so he added his surname to it and, additionally, attached a circle around the logo’s characteristic star. At last, the definitive “Mercedes-Benz” and its symbol were born and still remain.

During the time of World War II, the Daimler-Benz was a truly important company for the German army as a war vehicles factory, using the war prisoners as workers. When finally Germany ended up defeated at the end of the War, the company’s car prices were way too high for the people’s possibilities, so the Mercedes-Benz lineup was enlarged with new, cheaper models and the establishment of different Classes of models, namely Class A and B, that still remain nowadays. Only in 1994 would Mercedes-Benz change the model name format, as the engine type now comes after the Class.

2000 was the year when Daimler and Benz’s cooperative agreement finally ceased. The two companies would definitely split from each other in May 2007 when DaimlerChrysler AG (the company’s name after Chrysler was bought) expired.

However, for the last few years, Mercedes-Benz has been betting on the product range enlargement, especially by generating smaller, less sumptuous, city cars. Meeting a larger number of people’s expectations with these less costly car classes, profits and technological growth are constant.

Besides the Mercedes-Benz vehicles themselves, other brands have been generated by the same company and built with Mercedes engines. Worthy of special emphasis in this matter are the brands SmartsmartGermany, 1994 > present13 models
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– small city cars – and MaybachMaybachGermany, 1909 > present15 models
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– deluxe cars.

Also developing racing competition engines, Mercedes-Benz is a regular participant in the Formula 1 as a member of the McLarenMcLarenUnited Kingdom, 1963 > present92 models
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team.

After the successful registry of the trade name “Mercedes” in 1902, there was still missing an official logo to be applied on the cars.

As Gottlieb Daimler had died in 1900, his two sons, Paul and Adolf, as company administrators, decided to pursue their father’s dream of having a star placed over his plant and proposed the idea of a three-point star, which was accepted in 1909 by the company’s administration.

This three-point star had been previously designed by Gottlieb Daimler and each point indicated a means where Mercedes engines were adapted: land, air and water (automobiles, aircrafts and boats). The first star had appeared on a 1901 Daimler car and would start being used by Mercedes vehicles.

The circle that frames the star as we know it today wouldn’t be added until 1926, when Karl Benz also added his surname to the brand name Mercedes, along with such circle.

The Mercedes-Benz brand has got over 100 years of history in the world of motorsport, having been present in sports car races and in rallies, as well as an engine provider for rally competitor teams. Throughout three centuries – 19th to 21st – the Stuttgart-based brand has proved his value in the racing competition and is still an active participant in the Formula 1, the Formula 3 and the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters / German Touring Car Championship) circuits.

The first time ever a Mercedes (antecessor) won a race happened in 1894 on the world’s very first car race, “Paris to Rouen”. It wasn’t until 1902 that the Daimler company officially registered the name Mercedes as their cars’ trade name and built a racing-purpose sports car, which was a lot lower than the other models, the Mercedes SimplexMercedes SimplexGermany, 1901 > 19056 versions
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.

Afterward, they carried on designing and building rather aerodynamic racing automobiles, such as the Blitzen BenzBenz Blitzen-BenzGermany, 1909 > 19117 photos
(1911), which was considered the world’s fastest vehicle, even beyond the train and airplanes. The Mercedes 35hp, too, would compete in the 1914 French Grand Prix, ending up on the three podium places.

The Blitzen Benz, 1909

© photo courtesy of: Benz

Meanwhile, First World War begun, but once the War was finally over, motorsport competitions started over in many countries in the early 20’s. In such events, the Mercedes cars would win several European road and hill-climb races.

Plus, from 1923 onwards, the brand started participating in the European Grand Prix, which both Mercedes and rival contestant Auto UnionAuto-UnionGermany, 1932 > 19647 models
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would lead for a long time.

In that same decade, supercharged 1.5L and 2.0L engines became the regular sizes for these cars. The first time a supercharged Mercedes won a competition was in the 4.5L production-class of the Targa Florio race, in Sicily, with a car that produced 140hp. It wouldn’t be long until several other car producers started trying to use that same technology.

By the time the World War II started, Mercedes decided to stop racing and not until 1952 would it return to the racing circuits, long after the War had ended.

Despite being small and far from powerful, no one stopped the legendary gullwing-door Mercedes 300 SLMercedes-Benz 300 SL Comp...Germany, 1952 > 19523 photos
from winning the Carrera Panamericana and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, besides making a big impression in the Mille Miglia race, all in the same year of 1952.

Another 2 years further on and the Mercedes-Benz cars would again start competing in the Formula 1 races with powerful W169 models. Still in 1954, the brand’s cars win the French Grand Prix by finishing in 1st and 2nd positions, besides performing the fastest lap.

The 300 SL, 1952

© photo courtesy of: Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes had always been a greatly active participant in motorsport, until a tragedy happened in the 1955 Le Mans, when a Mercedes 300 SLRMercedes-Benz 300 SLR Roa...Germany, 1955 > present6 photos
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crashed into another contestant and ran into the audience, killing over 80 viewers of the race. The company would then announce their retirement from frontline motorsport and wouldn’t return until some decades later on.

From 1955 to 1957, Mercedes models 300 SL and 300 SLS won the American Sports-Car Championship. Then, only around the late 60’s would Mercedes make a comeback into racing, starting with the Spa 24 Hours and the European Touring Car.

A decade later on, in 1978, the brand introduced their incredibly fast V8 coupés, in the rough South America Rally.

However, the Mercedes management decided not to be an active element of the international motorsport again until 1984, when the brand started providing the engines for the SauberSauberSwitzerland, 1970 > present21 models
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team cars from the Group C.

In the ten years that ranged from 1986 to 1996, Mercedes stood as the DTM’s most triumphant brand, with both team and individual titles won.

In 1993, the newly released Sauber C12 qualified for the South African Grand Prix top ten, partly thanks to Mercedes supplied V10 engine.

The brand would stop supplying Sauber in 1995, when they starting providing for the British McLaren team (replacing Peugeot), being their engines’ designers and manufacturers. Mercedes-Benz became a McLaren shareholder ever since, and a permanent member of their team.

The McLaren-Mercedes team would win both 1998 and 1999 Formula 1 world championship, by the hands of Mika Häkkinen. The team is currently a truly respected one, as they have won an enormous amount of races, as well as Drivers’ and Constructors’ competitions. Also, they have been considered by some experts as the most sophisticated and technically advanced team within all the others.

In 2002, a Mercedes car would win a Formula 3 race for the very first time, at the Nürburgring. Then, from 2004 to 2006, the brand’s cars have been active contestants in the Formula 3 Euroseries and in the British Formula 3 Championship, having achieved some important drivers’ and teams’ titles. By 2007, the Mercedes-Benz engines are the most used on the British Formula 3 competitors’ cars.

Having achieved an extremely large number of championship titles and victories on the rally circuits, Mercedes racing cars hold a reputation for reliability in the field.