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120 years of Mercedes

Ah birthdays. Who doesn’t love ’em? It’s always a good reason to hog the chocolate cake and rip apart gift packaging. Well today, we’re celebrating 120 years of Mercedes.

Humble beginnings

Who would have thought 120 years ago that an 11-year-old girl’s name would be on motor enthusiasts’ lips worldwide? And yet, Mercedes echoes the guileless fluidity of a motoring beast that has taken its place in the upper echelons of the automobile hall of fame.

The Mercedes 35 HP as a four-seater touring car, delivered to Emil Jellinek at the beginning of 1901 and photographed in the garden of Jellinek’s domicile on the Promenade des Anglais

And it all started on April 2 1900, when Nice-based Austrian Emil Jellinek decided to register the vehicles he was trading with Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft for racing events. This marked the birth of the iconic Mercedes 35 PS, praised for its highly advanced technology and delectable design. It became the benchmark for modern motoring, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Mercedes-Simplex 40 PS from 1903, photographed by the old harbour in Nice. Photo from the Classic Insight press event “The Mercedes Era” on April 2017

In June 1926, Daimler and Benz merged. The result? Mercedes-Benz, the hyphenated symbiosis of motoring genius that translates to luxury and comfort. It was the marriage of elegance and beauty with performance and technology, a design that ubiquitously combined intelligence and emotion, and 120 years on, the legacy is far from tarnished.

Vision Mercedes Simplex

Daimler Group’s Chief Design Officer, Gordon Wagener, said it best: “: “Our quest for the perfect realization of luxury and the driving of innovation is part of our brand DNA. It forms the basis of the sustained success of our brand. Our design will turn cool- looking technology and emotional staging into a desirable experience, as is currently the case with the new compact GLA or the progressive EQC, for example.”

Mercedes: empowering women

It’s not just the car and its parts that make Mercedes-Benz stand out from the crowd. To date, it’s the only automotive brand with a female name. Mercedes-Benz AG head of marketing, Bettina Fetzer, believes “With our She’s Mercedes initiative, founded in 2015, we are building on this tradition for our numerous female customers around the world. The future of Mercedes-Benz will combine sustainability and luxury in a fascinating way.”

Mercedes Jellinek aged 11. Emil Jellinek initially chose the first name of his daughter as a pseudonym for his own involvement in racing with vehicles from Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, it later became the brand name

You can celebrate 120 years of Mercedes this Ramadan, with some truly spectacular deals. Check them out!

Mikaniki

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Tags: Daimler Mercedes Mercedes-Benz

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