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HISTORY Of Mercedes

Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz were born only 60 miles apart in southern Germany. Daimler was born March 17, 1834. A decade later, on November 25, Carl Benz was born.

Although they grew up with little in common, both boys were fascinated by machines from an early age. Because their approach to building cars was quite different, it is doubtful, though, that they met or even knew what the other was doing.

In 1886, Carl Benz built a motorized tricycle. His first four-wheeler, the Victoria, was built in 1893. The first production car was the 1894 Benz Velo which participated in the first recorded car race, the Paris-Rouen race. In 1895, Benz built his first truck.

In 1886, Gottlieb Daimler literally built a horseless carriage. In 1888 Daimler made a business deal with William Steinway (of piano fame) to produce Daimler's products in the US. From 1904 until a fire in 1907, Steinway produced Mercedes passenger cars, Daimler's light trucks, and his engines on Long Island.

Daimler Riding Car

The first motor-driven buggy from 1888 was tested by the wife of Carl Benz (as in Mercedes-Benz). She packed up her two boys and left home for a day. When she needed to stop for gasoline she got it at the local pharmacy.

Ironically, history says Daimler, generally considered to be the father of modern automobiles never liked to drive, if, indeed he ever learned to drive. On March 6, 1990, Daimler died, leaving control of his company to his chief engineer Wilhelm Mayback.

By November 22 of that year, Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschat had produced a special car for Emil Jellinek. Jellinek named the car after his ten-year-old daughter Mercedes. Lighter and smaller, the new Mercedes had 35 hp and a top speed of 55 mph!

The Simplex is considered to be the first Mercedes that was built in 1901. Designed by Wilhelm Maybach it had 35hp and stood long and low to the ground. Emil Jellinek, an Austrian businessman, was instrumental in the development of the vehicle. When he commissioned this sports car, he exclaimed, "I don't want the car of today or the car of tomorrow, but the car of the day after tomorrow." Jellinek bought a fleet of 36 and named them Mercedes (in Spanish this means grace) after his young daughter.

Mercedes Simplex

The 1903 Parsifil was Benz's answer to Mercedes. A two cylinder vertical engine produced a top speed of 37 mph in this car. Aware of the promotional potential of racing, both Daimler and Benz entered many of them. However, up until 1908, Daimler had overshadowed Benz in racing endeavors. At the 1908 French Grand Prix, Benz took second and third place behind Lautenschlager driving a Mercedes. From that point on, both Benz and Daimler did well in racing.

At the beginning of the first world war, both factories were converted into production sites for war materials, although both resumed producing cars after the war.

THE GOTTLIEB DAIMLER MEMORIAL

Set on the park grounds of Gottlieb Daimler's former home, the greenhouse holds original tools and drawings of Gottlieb and Wilhelm Maybach. This is where it all began.

Daimler and Maybach worked 24/7 in absolute secrecy creating their first engine. Even Daimler's family and staff didn't have a clue to the goings on. At one point a suspicious gardener contacted the police claiming that the greenhouse was a money-counterfeiting workshop. When they found only tools and engine components during their nighttime search, the inventors were left alone to work. In 1885 they received a patent on an upright engine which they named "grandfather clock", a single­cylinder engine light and compact enough to fit into a two-wheeler "riding car".

This was the first motorcycle that you see at the Mercedes museum. In the summer of 1886 the pair mounted the engine into a horseless carriage and drove around town much to the shock of observers. People were so spooked by the technology that Daimler and Maybach decided to do future testing on the Neckar River. Thus, they mounted the motor in a boat and the Neckar became the first motorboat.

Mercedes Jellinek

Mercedes-Benz: From WWI's End to the Mercedes-Benz Merger.

Social unrest and a falling economy characterized post-war Germany. Little or no fuel for cars and a 15% luxury tax made automobile production increasingly disastrous. This market sent Benz and Cie. seeking a strong partner. The only one the board considered worthy of Benz and Cie was DMG.

Thus, in 1919, Karl Jahn, a Benz board member since 1910, approached Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschat about a possible merger. The merger attempt looked promising, then was abandoned in December of 1919. The German economy continued to worse and a new Benz automobile eventually cost 25 million marks.

Although nearly 15 million cars were registered in the world in 1923, over 80% of them were registered in the US and over 1/2 were Fords. Benz and Cie. built 1,382 cars in 1923 while DMG only built 1,020. German auto makers were at a low point although racing success for the companies continued.

In 1924, from sheer economic necessity, Benz and DMG signed an "Agreement of Mutual Interest." Although both companies retained their identities, the agreement was valid until the year 2000. The two companies merged with relative ease on June 28, 1926.

Mercedes SSK 1930

Mercedes-Benz: From the Mercedes-Benz Merger Through the 20s.

A symbol was chosen for the combined products of DMG and Benz. The new insignia was a three-pointed star wreathed with laurel. The word "Mercedes" was at the top and the word "Benz" was at the bottom.

Then merger did the new company well. Production of Mercedes-Benz rose to 7,918 Mercedes-Benz automobiles in 1927. The Mercedes-Benz diesel truck was put into production in 1927, also.

The first two automobiles to sport the Mercedes-Benz name were the Stuttgart and the Mannheim. Then in 1928 the Mercedes SS was introduced by Mercedes-Benz. This graceful body was made possible by a hood line that barely cleared the engine.

1954 - 1957 300 SL 'Gullwing' and 300 SLS