The Classic Center
Michael Kunz
Tangible Examples of Our Heritage
Planning for Amelia Island and Pebble Beach
As we continue with the celebrations of the 125 years of innovation since Karl Benz patented the first practical vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine, our biggest challenge here at the Classic Center is to decide which automobiles are most appropriate to represent the Mercedes-Benz marque at major automobile shows.
At first, this seems simple. Take the number of years and divide it by the number of spaces available, then pick the most impressive example from each period. A display like that would certainly present the evolution of our marque, and the automobile. But does a display like that really say anything about the core values of Mercedes-Benz?
Our planning for the recent Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance was typical and a good warm-up for the main event scheduled for Pebble Beach in August. We had to represent the achievements of Mercedes-Benz over a century and a quarter when the pavilion we use at Amelia Island has room to display only four vehicles.
After some discussions, we came to the conclusion that a simple historical pageant, though certainly interesting, wouldn’t really represent the accomplishments of which we are most proud.
Instead, we decided not to simply jump into a discussion of which cars built by Mercedes-Benz over the years have been most significant. Rather, we would start by talking about what innovation means to the people who have contributed to our company in the past and present.
With that premise, attributes in which we take pride rapidly came to mind. Safety. Engineering. Style. Value. Performance. Quality. Luxury.
With those words on our whiteboard, the task became much easier. Of course, we would use one space to display our re-creation of the Benz Patentwagen. It is the central icon of our company and the visual proof of our statement that we are “the company that invented the automobile.”
For the other three spaces, we had to think a little bit longer, but the examples weren’t difficult to come up with.
In our earliest days, motorsport competition by both Benz and Daimler drove the companies to improve their technology. The competition peaked with the Grand Prix cars built in 1908 and 1909. We were pleased that we could display the 150-horsepower 17.3-liter Mercedes in which Otto Salzer won the Semmering races in those years, loaned to us by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame museum. On display, it effectively represented our values of performance and innovation.
Of course the classic era had to be represented, because it was during the years immediately after the merger of Daimler and Benz that the combined Mercedes-Benz star and laurel wreath came to represent the very best in automobile quality, style, luxury, and engineering excellence.
or that position, we selected a 1935 500K Cabriolet A, doubly interesting because this example was upgraded by the first owner with a supercharged 540K engine when the bigger engine became available. Coachbuilt in the company’s own workshops at Sindelfingen, and trimmed to the best level of quality, this car was, then and now, one of the most desirable automobiles ever built.
But what were we leaving out? Safety, of course. In the early days of automobile development, safety was not an overarching consideration for the company as it has become, so we would need to look for a later example. After a little thought, we realized that the best example we could find was a car that had come out of our own workshops, and one we had displayed last year at Pebble Beach. The third spot would be filled by a lovely little 1958 180D Ponton sedan.
On first reflection, this might seem a strange choice to be displayed next to two cars that when originally built were only affordable by the wealthiest of owners, and now are nearly priceless. However, in the design of its body and engine, this green car represented the best of Mercedes-Benz engineering innovation in safety and efficiency. The Pontons were the first completely re-engineered Mercedes-Benz designs introduced after World War II. For them, Béla Barényi developed a unit-body chassis that would protect the occupants from harm by maintaining structural integrity of the passenger compartment while allowing the engine and suspension to collapse. Though Mercedes-Benz wasn’t the first to use this design, we were the first to put it into general production, and it is a design that every other manufacturer eventually adopted.
The diesel engine, used in this sturdy example, was a second achievement of which we are very proud. In 1925, Mercedes-Benz was the first manufacturer to develop a practical 6-cylinder diesel engine for use in trucks. By 1936, the company broke new ground by installing it in an automobile.
The diesel engine had two important advantages: It produced substantial power for the amount of fuel that it used, and it was more durable than gasoline engines of the period. Cars like this 180D can still be found all over the world, in daily use today.
The 180D represents another core value for our company. When it was built, it gave up nothing in quality to more expensive cars, and was recognized for its leading-edge technology. Nevertheless, it could be afforded by the average person working for a salary and raising a family. As our company has grown and evolved, we have constantly striven to broaden our product line without sacrificing our objectives of quality, safety, and value.
With Amelia Island behind us, we can turn our attention to planning for Pebble Beach. On the field on that Sunday, we will have a special class representing 125 years of automotive innovation. We’ll be bringing a variety of cars from our collection in Germany, as well as cooperating with the concours organization to provide spectators with what we believe will be an unequaled display of our history.
But more important than just the history, with every car that’s accepted for that presentation, we will be asking one question: Does this car, in some important way, represent those values that provide continuity in our development and help us maintain our position in the international automotive industry? In meeting this goal, each car must simply be, “The best, or nothing.”