HOW THE BRAND NAME MERCEDES CAME INTO BEING...

Emil Jellinek, one of the first great automobile enthusiasts, became aware of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) in 1896. He is on the lookout for ever better and faster vehicles. In Nice, where the sophisticated bon vivant spends a large part of the year, the new automobiles are in great demand. So from 1897 he became a dealer for Daimler automobiles there and demanded constant technical improvements from Daimler and Maybach. He takes part in races under the pseudonym "Monsieur Mercédès" - his daughter's pet name.

In 1900, Jellinek gave the order to develop a new type of car - light, beautiful and fast. And so Wilhelm Maybach designs the Mercedes-Simplex racing car with 35 hp. The new series is named "Daimler-Mercedes" - the "Mercedes" brand is born.

As soon as it arrived in Nice, the journal "L'Automobile-Revue du Littoral" wrote on 4 January 1901: "We do not hold back with our opinion: the Mercedes car is very, very interesting. This remarkable vehicle will be a feared competitor in the races of 1901." This first Mercedes caused a sensation with its sensational success at the Nice Race Week at the end of March 1901. The world's first modern automobile took four first places and five second places.

These victories established the myth of the Mercedes brand. Whereas until then the French manufacturers had been regarded as the better constructors, from now on the upper classes bought Mercedes cars.