The very first comic book, titled “Carl Benz – A life dedicated to cars”, covers how the car was invented in colorful images how the car was invented as well as providing an insight into the fascinating life of car creator, Carl Benz. The comic book, by Belgian artist Willy Harold Williamson and author Martin Grünewald, is published by Sadifa Media and will be available from February 9, 2013 in the Mercedes-Benz Museum shop.

“There can be few more entertaining ways of conveying the stories both of the automobile and of the origins of our company”, commented Michael Bock, Head of Mercedes-Benz Classic. “The historical accuracy of these wonderful drawings is impressive, while the speech bubbles really get to the heart of the story. Every little technical detail on the Benz Patent Motor Car is precisely drawn; and Carl and Bertha are immediately recognisable”.

On over 52 beautifully laid out pages, the comic book illustrates the most important milestones in the life of Carl Benz, beginning with his birth on November 25, 1844. Its memorable images tell of the many hurdles and vicissitudes faced over the course of his life by Carl Benz, the man who would determine the birthday of the automobile when he registered the patent for his three-wheeler motor car on January 29, 1886. At his side: his wife Bertha Benz. Her legendary first long-distance drive from Mannheim to Pforzheim with her sons Eugen and Richard, 125 years ago, is very persuasively shown in comic-strip form. The inventions and developments being undertaken at around the same time by those other automotive pioneers, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach, in Cannstatt, are also covered.

The comic-book story is based on proven facts. The Mercedes-Benz Classic Archive helped the internationally renowned comic-strip artist Willy Harold Williamson and author Martin Grünewald with their detailed research work. As far as possible, all the historical scenes illustrated are derived from documented facts. The dialogue in the comic aims for the same level of verisimilitude, even if no record of actual details remains.

In order to achieve an impression of depth with three-dimensional effect, the colour in each individual drawing was applied by an experienced colourist in three separate layers. This very complex form of illustration allows the reader much more intensive enjoyment of the storyline. The high-quality hardback volume is published by Sadifa Media, specialists in historical comics for over 25 years.

The comic book “Carl Benz – A life dedicated to the car” will be available from February 9, 2013 as a Mercedes-Benz Classic special edition in a specific cover, exclusively from the Mercedes-Benz Museum shop. The inside of the dust jacket is printed with a drawing from the comic, making it suitable for use as a poster.

The special edition is available at a price of 19.80 euros in four languages: German, English, French and Chinese. The comic may also be ordered online from the Classic Store at www.mercedes-benz-classic-store.com. Over the course of the coming year, the comic will then become available with a different cover from booksellers throughout Germany.

In the year of the 125th anniversary of the automobile, an important gap has now been closed in the life story of Carl Benz, and therefore also in the corporate history of Daimler AG. The latest historical research suggests that the inventor of the automobile was born in a guesthouse at Rheinstrasse 22 in the Mühlburg district of Karlsruhe. The place of his birth had remained previously unknown. However, the house no longer exists, having been knocked down in the 1950s to allow for the widening of Rheinstrasse. The site is today occupied by a department store with adjoining car park. It is planned to erect a small memorial to the inventor in the direct vicinity of the site.

Carl Benz was born on 25 November 1844. His birth was recorded in the church register under the Germanised surname of his mother, Josephine Vaillant: Carl Friedrich Michael Wailand. It was not until one year later, on 16 November 1845, that Carl’s mother married his presumed father, Johann Georg Benz, in the Catholic parish church of St. Stephan. His mother worked as a maid in Karlsruhe from 1833 up until two months before the birth of her son.

This latest evidence is the result of exhaustive new research conducted by the municipality of Karlsruhe, which involved a search of the relevant church registers by the historian Dr Peter Pretsch , director of the local municipal museum at the Municipal Archive and Historical Museums section. Piece by piece, the names of the godfathers revealed a chain of clues: Karl Axtmann, a master shoemaker, and Michael Kramer, a “burgher, innkeeper and brewer”. Axtmann was a relative, because Carl Benz’s paternal great-grandmother was called Axtmann. It is assumed that Axtmann was instrumental in obtaining accommodation for the heavily pregnant Josephine Vaillant at the guesthouse owned by Michael Kramer at Rheinstrasse 22. As home births were the norm in those days, it is reasonable to conclude that this was the place where Carl Benz was born. Kramer’s guesthouse was later given the name “Stadt Karlsruhe”.

After their wedding, Josephine and Johann Georg Benz moved with their child to Erbprinzenstrasse 13 in Karlsruhe – another finding to emerge from the latest research, discovered in this case with reference to the 1846 street register. Benz was an engine driver with Baden Railways. Being required to perform his work in the open cabs of the steam locomotives of those days, he contracted pneumonia, from which he died in the summer of 1846 – not quite two years after the birth of his son. Thereafter, his widow provided board and lodging in Karlsruhe to students from the polytechnic school in order to finance her son’s studies.

Carl Benz first attended the scientific grammar school in Karlsruhe. Aged 15, he passed the entrance examination for the polytechnic school on 30 September 1860. Four years later, on 9 July 1864, he successfully completed his studies, after which he began work as a mechanic. Having moved to Mannheim in connection with his work, he married Bertha Ringer on 20 July 1872. In 1885 h e built his first petrol-engined automobile, a three‑wheeler, for which he filed a patent application on 29 January 1886 (German Imperial Patent No. 37.435). The patent specification may be considered the birth certificate of the automobile. Carl Benz died on 4 April 1929 in Ladenburg. Consequently, he lived long enough to witness the triumph of his invention – in contrast to Gottlieb Daimler, who died as early as 1900.

Mercedes-Benz landaulets in the post-war period saw a functional transformation of the landaulet, from a versatile body design for city and country motoring to a vehicle used almost solely as a parade car. This led to the landaulet design becoming an extreme rarity: during the second half of the 20th century Mercedes-Benz built only 59 landaulets based on the Mercedes-Benz 600 model (W 100), plus a few exclusive landaulets specially manufactured in the company’s workshops. Most famous of all are the Mercedes-Benz landaulets made as papal cars.

This tradition started in 1960 with a Mercedes-Benz 300 d landaulet. In fact Mercedes-Benz had already given the Vatican an official car for the pope’s use some decades before, in 1930. But in contrast to the earlier “Rome car” – a Mercedes-Benz Nürburg 460 Pullman limousine – this time the vehicle had a folding convertible top at the rear. Pope John XXIII himself had requested a landaulet body for the new automobile from Stuttgart. The meticulously handcrafted W 189 landaulet (only two of which were ever made) was based on a chassis with a wheelbase lengthened by around 45 centimeters to a total of 3.6 meters. The car was also around ten centimeters higher than the production model.

The three-liter six-cylinder in-line engine developing 160 hp/118 kW was the same as in the production version. This gave the papal car a top speed of 160 km/h, but of course it was generally driven at a much more sedate tempo on official outings. At such times, with the roof open, the rear side windows could be completely removed and placed in specially designed brackets in the trunk. The partition between front and rear seats and the front windows were electrically operated and lowered simply by pressing a button.

The locking devices for the roof mechanism were accessible from the driver’s seat, and the convertible top itself was opened and closed in a matter of seconds. Steps automatically opened out from the car floor when the rear doors were opened, making it easier for the pope to enter and alight from the vehicle. The throne-style seat for the pontiff was placed in the middle at the rear, facing in the direction of travel, with two folding seats opposite, attached to the partition, for accompanying staff. Around the papal seat, which was electrically adjustable, were the controls for air conditioning, intercom and other functions. At the presentation of the car in 1960, the pope was clearly delighted with the vehicle equipment.

Landaulet as small-run production series: Mercedes-Benz 600

The 300 d landaulet attracted considerable attention – but the most notable development in the history of this body design in the second half of the 20th century came with the Mercedes-Benz factory-built landaulet versions of the 600 model (W 100). In the book “Mercedes-Benz 600” published in 2001, author Heribert Hofer describes the landaulet from this model series as “a genuine old-style parade car, a unique automotive treasure.” And indeed, heads of state like Queen Elizabeth Elisabeth II, Pope Paul VI and his successors and heads of government all around the world chose this model to greet onlookers as they drove through the streets. The German government also regularly called on a Mercedes-Benz 600 landaulet for ceremonial occasions, although the vehicle was not owned by the state. Instead, the car was kept in the company fleet in Stuttgart and made available on request.

Production of the 600 model, in the “Grand Mercedes” tradition, started in September 1964. The Pullman landaulet, along with a number of limousines, was a production variant of the Pullman body with the long wheelbase of the W 100. Mercedes-Benz offered its customers four different landaulet versions based on this exclusive design: the standard version had four doors, facing rear seats, and a folding top extending as far as the front edges of the rear doors. There was also a special six-door version with a seat bench in the rear and additional fold-out seats facing in the direction of travel. In this variant, as in the six-door Pullman limousine, the middle doors could also be provided without handles. Both the above landaulets – the four-door and six-door design – could also be equipped on request with a long convertible top reaching as far as the partition.

All these versions were based on a long-wheelbase W 100 chassis, but in 1967 a one-off short-wheelbase W 100 landaulet was also produced. The vehicle was commissioned by Count von Berckheim. The ex-racing driver’s Mercedes-Benz 600 combined the handling qualities of a short-wheelbase design with the traditional virtues of the landaulet. The time and effort involved in this one-off project indicates that the 59 Pullman landaulets built hardly represented a “series production” operation in the strict sense – in fact, with such a wide variety of interior equipment options and special features it would be difficult to find two identically-equipped 600 landaulets. But one thing all these vehicles had in common was their exceedingly high price. The exclusive body design with the folding convertible top did not appear on the official price list, but the Mercedes-Benz 600 was regarded as the world’s most expensive production car of its day.

Mercedes-Benz 600 landaulet for the Vatican

In 1965 Mercedes-Benz presented the Vatican with another landaulet based on the W 100 Pullman. The manufacture of the car was a cooperative project of the testing and production departments in Sindelfingen. The four-door landaulet was presented to Pope Paul VI at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo by Hermann Josef Abs, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Daimler-Benz AG, General Manager Walter Hitzinger, and Board of Management members Fritz Nallinger and Arnold Wychodil, along with Karl Wilfert and three employees from the Daimler-Benz plant in Sindelfingen.

The equipment of this landaulet differed from the production version in several details: the rear doors were 25.6 centimeters wider, and came right up to the partition. The rear doors also included new operating controls, designed to be within easy reach from the papal seat located centrally in the back of the passenger compartment. The designers at Sindelfingen made the roof seven centimeters higher to provide ample head room – a modification required because of the flat floor in the rear of the W 100, concealing the propeller shaft tunnel beneath. Special equipment included air conditioning, an intercom for communicating with the driver, and the ability to shift the single armchair-style seat at the rear in several different directions.

The pontiff was delighted with the sophisticated technology in his W 100. “The name of Mercedes has become proverbial all round the world for German diligence and skill – which makes this gift all the more precious,” said Paul VI in his words of appreciation for the automotive engineering achievements of the team in Stuttgart back in 1965. The Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman landaulet bearing the legendary license plate SCV 1 (the abbreviation for “Stato della Città del Vaticano”) is now on display in the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart.

W 109 and V 140 landaulets built in-house

And the specialists at Mercedes-Benz built another two landaulets for the Vatican in the years after 1965, both based on standard limousines. The first of these papal cars, built as early as 1966 with a single rear seat, was a landaulet based on a

Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL limousine (W 109 series) with standard wheelbase (2.85 meters). The seat could be moved to the right if necessary to create room for a passenger on the fold-out seat fitted on the partition. This car remained in use for many years, in parallel with the W 100 landaulet. The 300 SEL was not equipped with quite the same level of luxury as the Mercedes-Benz 600 – for example there was no air conditioning in the shorter vehicle. The car was however retrofitted with armor plating in 1981.

This was followed in 1997 by a landaulet based on the Mercedes-Benz S 500 with a long wheelbase (V 140). Like its predecessors, this was a “no expense spared” one-off project that combined traditional values with contemporary technology. The car had numerous special equipment features. The electro-hydraulically operated convertible top, when closed, was five centimeters higher than in the limousine, to provide more head room above the papal seat. On taking delivery of the vehicle in person in 1997, Pope John Paul II was given a briefing on the car’s technical features and praised the design.

Heir to a great tradition

The 600 model was the only Mercedes-Benz ever built as a production landaulet over the last 60 years. However, the brand has repeatedly made good use of this type of bodywork with specially designed superstructures as for the papal cars. The sense of a unique driving culture that is epitomized in the landaulet is as strong as ever in Stuttgart. And it is this knowledge and living heritage from the past that provides the basis for the Maybach landaulet in 2007.

Technical details of Mercedes-Benz ceremonial cars

Mercedes-Benz 300 d landaulet with long wheelbase (W 189)

• Two units built, for the Vatican and the Mercedes-Benz factory fleet
• Six-cylinder in-line engine
• Displacement of 2996 cubic centimeters
• 160 hp/118 kW at 5300 rpm
• Wheelbase 3600 millimeters
• Length 5640 millimeters
• Width 1995 millimeters
• Height 1720 millimeters

Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL landaulet (W 109)

• One unit manufactured for the Vatican
• Six-cylinder in-line engine
• Displacement of 2996 cubic centimeters
• 170 hp/125 kW at 5400 rpm
• Wheelbase 2850 millimeters
• Length 5000 millimeters
• Width 1810 millimeters

Mercedes-Benz 600 landaulet with long wheelbase (W 100)

• 26 six-door and 32 four-door units produced
• V8 engine
• Displacement of 6332 cubic centimeters
• 250 hp/184 kW at 4000 rpm
• Wheelbase 3900 millimeters
• Length 6240 millimeters
• Width 1950 millimeters
• Height 1500 millimeters

Mercedes-Benz 600 landaulet with short wheelbase (W 100)

• One unit manufactured for Count von Berckheim
• V8 engine
• Displacement of 6332 cubic centimeters
• 250 hp/184 kW at 4000 rpm
• Wheelbase 3200 millimeters
• Length 5540 millimeters
• Width 1950 millimeters
• Height 1500 millimeters

Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman landaulet (W 100)

• Special version with modified doors, folding convertible top and interior One unit manufactured for the Vatican
• V8 engine
• Displacement of 6332 cubic centimeters
• 250 hp/184 kW at 4000 rpm
• Wheelbase 3900 millimeters
• Length 6240 millimeters
• Width 1950 millimeters
• Height 1570 millimeters

Mercedes-Benz S 500 long-wheelbase landaulet (V 140 E 50)

• One unit manufactured for the Vatican
• V8 engine
• Displacement of 4973 cubic centimeters
• 320 hp/235 kW at 5600 rpm
• Wheelbase 3140 millimeters
• Length 5213 millimeters
• Width 1886 millimeters
• Height 1526 millimeters

The combination of tradition and modernity embodied in the Maybach Landaulet study, makes this a truly unique vehicle of its time. The highly unusual body shape already defines the car as something quite out of the ordinary. But the unique combination of the fold-back roof at the rear and a solid roof section over the front seats also reflects the fine appreciation of tradition and values that is the hallmark of the Mercedes-Benz Cars approach.

The body of the landaulet harks back to the early days of automotive history. Just a few years after the invention of the automobile by Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz in 1886 – working independently of each other – both companies had large numbers of landaulets on the roads. The Mercedes-Benz brand created in 1926 took up the idea, and over the years landaulets based on a range of model were built, both in normal production plants and by prestigious bodybuilders. The last landaulet variant available as a production car was the 600 model (W 100 series) from 1965 until 1981. The company’s in-house special vehicle manufacturing workshops also built three different landaulets for the Vatican in the second half of the 20th century.

Distinctive folding top

The landaulet is one of the true aristocrats among special body designs, and indeed its origins go back to the days of the coachbuilder’s art. Its hallmark is a “rigid, closed passenger compartment with a folding convertible top,” according to the Mercedes-Benz definition. What this means in practice is a folding convertible top over the rear seats, adjacent to a rigid top or solid partition. Depending on the variant, the driver might be out in the open, or – as is usual in today’s bodies of this type – in his own compartment, after the style of a limousine.

In any event, the choice between closed or open-top travel is only available to the passengers in the rear. The qualities of the landaulet as the perfect car for public figures are most evident when the opulent roof is swung back, focusing every eye on the occupants in the rear, and converting the landaulet into a stylish and elegant platform for public appearances. This is why vehicles with this unique body design are used almost exclusively by dignitaries and VIPs. And of course the roof can always be closed again, as protection from the weather or prying glances.

Maybach Landaulet study

The Maybach Landaulet study was created in response to requests from Maybach customers who still feel the thrill of landaulet vehicles from the days of sumptuously equipped coaches driving through the streets. The car is based on the Maybach 62 S. The C-pillars and roof arches remain in place when the top is pushed back, retaining the luxury limousine’s distinctive silhouette, along with the generously-dimensioned doors, stylish interior compartment and seating arrangements.

When the roof is closed, the convertible top is stretched over the roof frame, providing a tight seal against wind and weather. On the instruction to open the passenger compartment, the driver merely has to press a control on the center console, and the structure, together with the rear window, folds gently down onto the parcel shelf, without any significant loss of stowage space. The opening and closing of the convertible top is an efficient but unhurried process, like a smoothly choreographed dance, taking around 20 seconds to complete. The luggage compartment remains easily accessible even with the roof open. And the driver can cover the retracted top with a stylish leather tarpaulin, concealing the mechanism and restoring the smooth and elegant contours of the vehicle.

Historical Maybach landaulets

In the 1930s there were landaulet versions of several Maybach luxury limousines. In line with normal practice at the time, the body fitted to the chassis could be designed according to the owner’s individual requirements. The most popular models with landaulet customers were the twelve-cylinder Maybach 12, Maybach Zeppelin DS7 and Maybach Zeppelin DS8. The combination of letters and numerals used for the Zeppelin models stood for the V12 engine (double-six, = DS) and the displacement. The Zeppelin DS7, built in 1930 and 1931, had a 150 hp (110 kW) engine with displacement of 6922 cubic centimeters, while its successor, produced from 1931 to 1939, generated 200 hp (147 kW) from a 7922 cubic centimeter engine.

Nor was the circle of Maybach landaulet aficionados restricted to statesmen and captains of industry. There were others for whom maintaining a high public profile was a business necessity, and an automobile that could put its occupants on show like jewels in a display case simply by folding the roof back was clearly ideal for the purpose. For example, in 1930 the Sembach-Krone family commissioned the Erdmann & Rossi bodybuilders’ firm to build a Zeppelin DS7, specifying a burgundy-colored landaulet body, as a management vehicle for the legendary Krone circus. This elegant car with its long folding top is now on show at the Sinsheim Auto and Technology Museum.

Also featured in the Sinsheim collection is a 1938 landaulet version of the Zeppelin DS8 with a top speed of 160 km/h. This body, with a short folding top, was made by Hermann Spohn in Ravensburg. Spohn was the regular bodybuilder for Maybach, located just twenty kilometers away in Friedrichshafen.

Origins in coach-building

The body form of the landaulet, or “half-landau” as it is sometimes known, owes much to the construction of horse-drawn coaches. The landau (or sometimes “Landauer” in German) was an open coach, probably named after the town of Landau in the Palatinate region of Germany. The passengers sat facing each other, and could be protected by two half-roof sections, pulled over them from either end of the vehicle when required. The coachman sat on a box seat, well away from the passenger compartment. The landaulet structure differed in that it only had the rear half-roof covering. And depending on the design, the driver’s compartment in front of the passenger seats could have a rigid roof, a glass top or a front windshield.

At the end of the 19th century the customary distinction in coach construction between the landau and landaulet was carried over into automotive design, with Daimler and Benz both initially making cars with landaulet and landau bodies.

Glory days of the landaulet

But events were to prove that only the landaulet had a viable future in the age of the automobile. One of the reasons was clearly that as speeds increased, passengers became more reluctant to sit with their backs to the direction of travel. The landaulet design emerged as the accepted form, and became increasingly popular with customers. But during the heyday of landaulet bodywork in the first half of the 20th century there was still no consistent or standard design.

One of the major points of difference was in the area of the driver’s seat. The box-seat of the Daimler belt-driven landaulet of 1896 for use as a taxi left the driver completely unprotected. In comparison, a 25/45 hp Benz landaulet from 1910 offered the driver a windshield and a rigid roof, but no doors or side windows. Side doors – but still no windows – were added in the 8/20 hp Benz of 1912.

Subsequent landaulet models reversed the principle of leaving the chauffeur out in the open – the driver was now protected by a windshield on all sides, as in a limousine, but the folding convertible top over the rear seats continued to offer flexibility for the passengers. This more contemporary form of the landaulet was used in luxury models such as the 15/70/100 hp Mercedes-Benz 400 Pullman landaulet from the late 1920s, and also in the landaulet taxicabs based on the Mercedes-Benz 260 D from 1936.

Landaulet as a taxicab

Al fresco motoring proved particularly attractive to taxicab customers – as indicated by the large numbers of taxicabs supplied with a landaulet body. In fact a landaulet became the world’s very first taxi when a Stuttgart-based haulage and taxicab operator, Friedrich August Greiner, ordered a Victoria landaulet with a taximeter from Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) under order no. 1329. The vehicle was duly delivered in May 1897, and the world’s first motorized taxi went into service in June, once the required permit had been obtained from the police. The vehicle cost its owner the small fortune of 5530 Mark. Included in that price were the landaulet half-convertible top, two dash leather coverings, reverse gear and solid rubber tires.

In the following decades both Daimler and Benz, and from 1926 Mercedes-Benz, supplied taxis based on this distinctive body design. The 12/30 hp Benz was actually marketed from 1913 to 1914 solely as a taxicab landaulet. In this period the landaulet became just as popular with taxi passengers as with VIPs. However the design was never in high demand for private automobiles for everyday use. In his reference work entitled “The modern automobile and its maintenance and repair” and published in 1921, Max Peter wrote: “The advantages of open-top and closed-top vehicles are to some extent combined in the landaulet which can be driven as either. Because of the ability to adapt the body structure according to the season, this body design is associated above all with taxi automobiles, and probably for this reason it is less popular for private cars, notwithstanding its undeniable advantages.” This quote is taken from the section dealing mainly with taxis and private cars of the traditional kind. The “elegant landaulet”, in contrast, is classified under a separate category specifically for parade cars.

Evolution of an elite body design

The folding convertible top design as a luxury variation on the automobile was discussed by authors Ernst Misol and Hermann Klaiber in 1913 in their book entitled “What do I need to know about my car, and how should I drive it to comply with the authorities’ regulations?” Misol and Klaiber emphasized the advantages of different body styles for different purposes: “A luxury car used only in city traffic should always have a fully enclosed body, i.e. the limousine design. But for shorter journeys outside city limits, preference is to be given to the landaulet with its retractable top at the rear.”

Owners of luxury landaulet cars in the pre-World War I period included Emperor Wilhelm II. The emperor’s first vehicle of this type was a 39/75 hp Mercedes chain-driven landaulet, which he used as a traveling car. This was followed in 1911 by a 38/70 hp Mercedes landaulet for the same purpose. The emperor then chose a 28/60 hp Mercedes landaulet as a city car in 1913. And during a visit by the heir to the Romanian throne in 1913, the monarch and his guest were driven through the streets in a 26/65 hp Mercedes-Knight landaulet.

Following the end of the imperial era, in 1938 Mercedes-Benz presented Paul von Hindenburg with a 12/55 hp Mercedes-Benz 300 six-seater landaulet: Hindenburg had been elected as President of the Weimar Republic in 1925, as the successor to Friedrich Ebert.

New technology always has its critics, and not surprisingly, the automobile was no different.  What did Kaiser Wilhelm II, the last German Emperor, think of the new technology of his day?  “I believe in the horse – the automobile is a temporary appearance.”  I have a feeling Wilhelm II would like to recant his prior statements.

A new video from Mercedes-Benz TV shows these kind of statements throughout 125 years of automotive history, none of which managed to deter the drive of Mercedes-Benz.  That, of course, is why they’re Mercedes-Benz.

The Mercedes-Benz 260 D in the W 138 series was the world’s first series-production diesel passenger car. Seventyfive years ago in February 1936, 50 years after the invention of the petrol-powered automobile by Carl Benz, Mercedes-Benz presented this revolutionary vehicle at the International Motorcycle and Automobile Exhibition in Berlin.

Its 2.6-litre OM 138 four-cylinder engine with the Mercedes-Benz pre-chamber system and a Bosch injection pump produced 33 kW (45 hp) at 3200 rpm, and was installed in the chassis of the petrol-powered Mercedes-Benz 200 with a long wheelbase. The Bosch Four-plunger injection pump allowed engine speeds of up to 3000 rpm and ensured rapid fuel delivery.

Two years prior, in November 1934, after experimenting with various diesel engines in Mercedes-Benz passenger cars, the engineers opted for a modified version of the well-proven six-cylinder in-line engine from the commercial vehicle sector. The result was a four-cylinder unit with a displacement of 2.6 litres (bore x stroke 90 x 100 millimetres). The new engine adopted the truck engine’s smooth pre-chamber combustion process. The technical specifications included overhead valves and a five-bearing crankshaft.

Series production of the model 260 D commenced at the end of 1935, and the world’s first regular production diesel car was premiered in February 1936, at the International Motorcycle and Automobile Exhibition in Berlin. At an average diesel fuel consumption of 9.5 litres, a tank filling was initially sufficient for 400 kilometres, and this increased to no less than 500 kilometres or more after a model upgrade in 1937. This was not without significance considering the relative scarcity of filling stations at the time.

Even in 1936 the diesel engine in the model 260 D delivered impressive fuel economy: average consumption was slightly above 9 litres of diesel per 100 kilometres, considerably bettering the 13 litres consumed by the petrol-powered model 200. Moreover, diesel fuel cost only 17 Pfennigs per litre for holders of a passenger transport licence in 1936: at the time that was less than half the normal cost of petrol. Taxi-drivers in particular immediately opted for this car, which was available in a spacious Pullman version with six seats right from the start.

In September 1936 Mercedes-Benz also introduced a Pullman saloon, a 4/5-seater saloon and the 4/5-seater Convertible B as further body variants of the model 260 D. Apart from taxi-drivers, more and more private customers also chose this very economical vehicle.

As early as 1937 Mercedes-Benz presented an improved version of the model 260 D: the facelifted version now had a modified radiator grille. The slightly smaller headlamps had more curved housings whose bases were inserted directly into the wings. Previously the headlamps had been mounted on a chrome-plated rail in front of the radiator, which was now omitted. The two 6/7-seater model variants were also given redesigned bodies which were both more spacious and more prestigious-looking than the first Pullman versions. New bumpers replacing the dainty versions of the first two years were introduced in 1938.

Modifications to the 260 D for the model upgrade included a wider track at the front (1370 instead of 1340 millimetres) and rear (1390 instead of 1380 millimetres) and a larger fuel tank (50 litres instead of 38 litres), which was now also moved from the engine compartment to the rear of the vehicle.

In February 1938 the previous overdrive transmission was replaced by a fully synchronised four-speed transmission with a direct-ratio fourth gear. At the same time the 260 D – like the model 230 – was given wider wheels and tyres in the interests of standardisation, as well as dual-action hydraulic shock absorbers at the rear. And from early 1938, electrically heated glow plugs made starting easier when the engine was cold.

From 1936 to 1940 Mercedes-Benz produced 1967 examples of the model 260 D. Especially as a taxi, the world’s first diesel passenger car proved to be an absolute long-distance champion: taxi cabs based on the 260 D were still on the road in large numbers well into the 1950s. Mercedes-Benz also used the OM 138 engine, which underwent only very few modifications during the four-year production period of the model 260 D, for other applications. The same engine also powered the L 1100 to L 1500-series vans built in Stuttgart and Mannheim.

Since the sensational premiere of the model 260 D, Mercedes-Benz passenger cars with diesel engines have continuously set new technical standards. After the Second World War, the model 170 D (W 136) was the first newly designed diesel car offered by Mercedes-Benz. It was powered by the OM 636 1.7-litre four-cylinder engine and presented in 1949.

Since then, Mercedes-Benz passenger cars with diesel engines have been a dynamic success story with numerous highlights. These range from the first diesel car with a five-cylinder engine (model 240 D 3.0 in the W 115 series of 1974) to the introduction of CDI technology with common-rail injection in the C 220 CDI of 1997 and BlueTEC emissions control in the E 320 BlueTEC for the American market in 2006, and right up to the development of diesel-hybrid vehicles such as the E 300 BlueTEC HYBRID for model year 2011. The brand is therefore making a decisive contribution towards establishing the diesel engine as an economical, powerful and refined passenger car drive unit with great future potential.

Exactly 125 years to the day after Carl Benz registered his “vehicle with gas-engine drive” under patent number 37435 with the Berlin Patent Office in 1886, Daimler AG has celebrated the anniversary of the automobile. Approximately 1,400 invited guests were hosted by the inventor of the automobile at the Mercedes-Benz World in Stuttgart. The evening was moderated by Desirée Nosbusch with guests of honor including the German Federal Chancellor,

Dr. Angela Merkel, and the Prime Minister of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, Stefan Mappus. They mixed with international guests from the automotive industry and the fields of politics, business, sports, society and the media, as well as members of Daimler’s Board of Management, Supervisory Board and many Daimler employees.

Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, emphasized the importance of the automobile: “The invention of Daimler and Benz has changed the world for the better – and it will continue to do so. History shows that when a society becomes physically mobile it also becomes socially mobile and economically successful.” At the same time, Dr. Zetsche focused on the future: “As the inventor of the automobile, Daimler strives to be at the forefront of shaping future mobility.”

One of the key challenges is the transition to electric mobility.

Dr. Zetsche is convinced: “If Daimler and Benz were still alive today, they would advise us to make green cars even more fascinating and fascinating cars even greener. Only attractive innovations are effective innovations.”

World tour of fuel cell vehicles to be started

Firm evidence of the innovative strength of Daimler and Mercedes-Benz in the field of green technologies was sent on a world tour as part of the anniversary celebrations. Together with Chancellor Merkel, present and past racing drivers Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg and David Coulthard, and three Daimler engineer, Dr. Zetsche symbolically started the Mercedes-Benz F-CELL World Drive. Three B-Class cars with fuel-cell drive are to travel around the world in 125 days.

Patent granted for battery technology

125 years after Carl Benz registered his patent and more than 80,000 patents later, Daimler was granted another technology patent during the anniversary celebrations. Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer, President of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office, presented Dr. Zetsche with the patent certificate for the so-called bipolar flat-cell frame. This technology is now in the development stage at Daimler and is potentially a further step along the way to the industrialization of lithium-ion batteries.

Milestone: 30 million Mercedes-Benz cars

Right on time for the 125th anniversary of the automobile and after 65 years of post-war production, the Mercedes-Benz brand has reached a new milestone. 30 million automobiles with the three-pointed star have been delivered to customers since 1945.

Dr. Dieter Zetsche: “This unit-sales jubilee is another major milestone in the history of our brand and demonstrates the popularity our cars have enjoyed for many decades with customers around the world.”

Sculpture “Aesthetics 125”

The latest sculpture from the Mercedes-Benz design team, “Aesthetics 125,” was unveiled during the celebrations. The sculpture continues the unique designers’ philosophy that “Mercedes-Benz design is art” and is an extension of the sculptures presented previously, “Aesthetics No. 1” and “Aesthetics No. 2.” Like them, “Aesthetics 125” provides an outlook on the future design language of Mercedes-Benz. It combines elements of an automobile’s interior and exterior by means of sweeping, almost soaring shape transitions. The model was made by the Mercedes designers using the innovative rapid-prototyping technology, which enables digital data to be transferred directly to a design object. The technology works with various materials and applies them in fine layers so that no waste material is produced when a sculpture is created.

Start of numerous activities

The anniversary celebrations at the Mercedes-Benz World mark the official start of jubilee year 2011, which Daimler has given the motto “125! years inventor of the automobile.” The Mercedes-Benz brand has given the year the motto “125! Years of innovation.” Numerous events connected with the 125th anniversary of the automobile are scheduled to take place this year.

Special bonus for the worldwide workforce

Daimler’s success – in the past, the present and the future – depends above all on the motivation and enthusiasm of its approximately 260,000 employees all over the world. For this reason, many activities and projects will be taking place in the coming year that focus on the employees. First of all, Daimler will pay out a total of 125 million euros to its worldwide workforce in the form of a special anniversary bonus. In recognition of the efforts and achievements of recent years, each employee will receive a bonus of up to 1,000 euros depending on his or her length of time at the Group.

Support for the Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz Foundation

In addition to the special bonus to be paid to the employees, Daimler is also making a gesture of social responsibility, and will increase the capital of the Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz Foundation (www.daimler-benz-stiftung.de) to 125 million euros. This foundation was established in 1986 – the year of the 100th anniversary of the automobile – and deals primarily with long-term research projects concerning the ever changing relationship between human beings, the environment and technology. The capital increase is intended to develop the foundation into a think tank specializing in this field.

“We move it! – 125 employee projects for sustainability”

There will be a very special event to honour employees’ social involvement: “We move it! – 125 employee projects for sustainability”. Employees in Germany can apply presenting environment- and community-related projects to which they dedicate their free time as volunteers. A jury of experts will select 125 projects which will then be supported or financed by Daimler with up to 5,000 Euros per project. Every employee already working, or wishing to work, for a non-profit organisation or in a public corporation can take part. Applications can be submitted starting January 29, 2011. Similar campaigns will be started in other countries such as Brazil and France.

Celebrations for employees and their families

In 2011, at virtually all the Daimler locations around the world, employee and family festivities will be organised. The celebrations at the multiple Daimler locations are intended as a “thank-you” to the workforce. For today’s celebration, 125 invitations were raffled amongst employees. Apart from this, in different events, Daimler will also raffle tickets for the international football match in the Mercedes-Benz Arena and numerous other prizes.

Exhibitions around the world

The central anchor point for the automobile’s history is the Mercedes-Benz Museum, which in 2011 celebrates its 5th anniversary at its new home in the Mercedes-Strasse in Stuttgart. In addition to the museum’s automotive classics, the guest exhibition ART 125! will be on show here from May to September 2011. Over 160 exhibits from the company’s collection of modern and contemporary art created by more than 80 internationally renowned artists will be on display. Among the works of art that will be seen there are many which originated in the artist’s treatment of the history, models or design of Mercedes-Benz motor cars. Worthy of mention among these: Andy Warhol’s (1928-1987) legendary series of paintings “CARS”, created by the artist 25 years ago on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the automobile. Beside further works with reference to the motor car by Bertrand Lavier, Robert Longo, Sylvie Fleury and Vincent Szarek among others, in the Mercedes-Benz Museum it will be possible to see for the first time a work commissioned for the automobile’s 125th birthday.

A publication is to be edited in the form of a book with 125 anecdotes revolving around the motor car, entitled “125 moving stories”. The reader can learn entertaining, informative and surprising stories – some of which have never been set down in writing before.

Exhibitions will be staged at the international Mercedes-Benz Galleries, Mercedes-Benz Brand Centres and the German Mercedes-Benz customer centres, featuring selected historic and present-day exhibits to illustrate the influence the invention of the motor-car had on society and to bear witness to Mercedes-Benz’s power of innovation – not least keeping an eye on the future of mobility. In addition, Daimler will implement a travelling exhibition of classic vehicles, which is to tour selected shopping centres throughout Germany and thus make automobile history tangible for millions of people.

Mercedes-Benz as sponsor of the 2011 Automobile Summer

The State of Baden-Württemberg celebrates the invention of the automobile with a series of events under the heading “Automobile Summer 2011– 125 years of the automobile”. Over 125 days numerous events will take place in Baden-Württemberg, grouped into eight thematic blocks: Family & Children, Origin & History, Art, Culture & Lifestyle, Technology & Research, Travel & Pleasure, Environment & Sustainability, Motor sport & Tuning as well as Wellness & Health. Five of these are planned in Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Pforzheim, the Lake of Constance region and Mannheim. The event series will begin in Stuttgart on May 8 to finish in Mannheim on September 10. Daimler is actively supporting the 2011 Automobile Summer with its brand Mercedes-Benz acting as a sponsor.

Mercedes-Benz says “Thank you”

Starting in mid-August Mercedes-Benz will initiate activities in Stuttgart, planned to take place on several days and intended to enable members of the public to participate actively in the jubilee celebrations. An international soccer match between the German National Team and the Brazilian selection in the reconditioned Mercedes-Benz Arena in Stuttgart on August 10, 2011 will be the kick-off; Mercedes-Benz acting as “Sponsor of the day”. On subsequent days Mercedes-Benz will offer multi-media performances, vehicle exhibitions and, both for young and old, a glimpse at the future of the motor car.

This “Thank you” event will also be incorporated in the event calendar of the Automobile Summer of the State of Baden-Württemberg.

In addition, this summer Mercedes-Benz, working in close cooperation with the international official Mercedes-Benz Clubs in Berlin is organising the biggest Mercedes-Benz meeting of all times.

Retrospect:125 years of innovation in automotive construction

When Carl Benz registered his Patent number 37435 in Berlin on January 29, 1886, nobody could possibly have imagined the triumphant march the modern motor car would embark upon over the following 125 years. Less than 100 kilometres away, and almost at the same time, Swabian inventor and entrepreneur Gottlieb Daimler was working on his motor wagon, to which he gave the finishing touches that very year. However, both had to wait some years before the groundbreaking development they had succeeded in initiating became a profitable commercial proposition.

The long road to the birth of the modern-day automobile

As far back as the eighteenth century there had been first experiments with automobiles driven by steam engines, in particular in England and France. In the course of the 19th century countless engineers, developers and inventors all over Europe worked at the further development of steam engines. Electric motors were also tried for the first time. However, the decisive steps that led to Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz’s invention of the modern motor car took place in Germany with the invention of the four-stroke engine (gas engine) by Nikolaus August Otto.

Both Daimler and his congenial partner, Wilhelm Maybach, as well as Carl Benz realised that their opportunity lay in the reduction of size and weight of the engine coupled with an increase in power output at the same time. The resoluteness with which Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler developed their ideas further, and patented, implemented and tested them to finally lead to their application in series production and market maturity, makes them the fathers of an invention that was to change the world – socially, culturally and economically.

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:

• 1939 – Inception of passenger-car safety development
• 1959 – World’s first safety body
• 1969 – Establishment of Mercedes-Benz accident research
• 1978 – Electronically controlled anti-lock braking system (ABS)
• 1980 – Pyrotechnic airbag, seat belt tensioner
• 1989 – Automatically raised roll-over bar
• 1995 – Electronic Stability Program (ESP®)
• 1996 – Brake Assist (BAS)
• 1998 – DISTRONIC adaptive cruise control
• 1999 – Active Body Control (ABC), tyre pressure monitor
• 2002 – PRE-SAFE® preventive occupant protection system
• 2003 – Active light function
• 2005 – DISTRONIC PLUS, Brake Assist PLUS, Night View Assist
• 2006 – PRE-SAFE® Brake, Intelligent Light System
• 2009 – Speed Limit Assist, Lane Keeping Assist, Blind Spot Assist, ATTENTION ASSIST drowsiness detection
• 2010 – Active Lane Keeping Assist, Active Blind Spot Assist ; LED high-performance headlamps

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.