The very first Mercedes Benz was a three-wheeled vehicle that received its patent in 1886. This first-ever gasoline-powered vehicle was named the Benz Motorwagen.
Carl Benz’s wife Bertha drove the vehicle to show off her husband’s invention and was the first female driver in automotive history.
Do you want to learn more about what some would consider the best car brand in the world? Keep reading to learn the interesting history of the Mercedes Benz car brand.
Damlier, Benz, and Maybach
Unlike the 2015 Ford Focus, The Mercedes Benz brand came together with automobile pioneers Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler. It was called Daimler-Benz at its founding in 1926.
Each of these men contributed to the brand in their own way. Benz built the first gasoline-powered automobile.
Daimler built and patented the first motorcycle and then built an automobile. A man named Wilhelm Maybach helped him design both.
Before getting together, Benz and Daimler worked individually to advance automotive technology. Daimler eventually started working with Maybach to create an internal combustion engine.
Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG)
In 1890, Daimler and Maybach founded Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) while Benz ran his company that he found in 1883 called Benz & Cie.
The two German car companies stayed on separate paths until the economic stress from World War I forced them to merge forming Daimler-Benz AG in 1926.
A Trusted Combination
With the merger of the two oldest automobile companies came the release of the Mercedes Benz. These vehicles were very attractive to the public who had trust in the newly merged company because of its history.
At the 1926 Berlin Motor Show, the first Mercedes-Benz passenger car made its debut. This successful merger produced 7,000 cars the following year.
In the early to mid-30s, Mercedes-Benz became one of the leading car manufacturers with passenger safety as a top priority. They began researching and testing side impact protection, collapsible steering columns, and the use of rigid floors.
WWII
The Nazi Regime co-opted the company to build engines and military-style vehicles in the time leading up to and during the war. The production demands were so high, they had to employ women and eventually forced labor including POWs and concentration camp prisoners.
Following the war, a large portion of the company’s assets had to be confiscated to pay war reparations. The company shrunk to only include only its four original southern Germany plants.
The company slowly rebuilt after receiving production approval from the American occupation authorities and became one of the most popular luxury car brands in the world and still is today.
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The Mercedes Benz Car Brand
The Mercedes Benz car brand is world-renowned and known for its revolutionary ideas and contributions to the automotive industry. While known for their supreme luxury, their amazing engineering makes them stand out among car brands.
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