Mercedes Benz

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Stuttgart, Germany, Jul 01, 2010

125 years ago – 29 August 1885: Gottlieb Daimler protected his “riding car” with German Patent No. DRP 36 423, issued on 11 August 1886. The prototype, powered by a “gas or petroleum engine” with an output of 0.37 kW, was the world’s first motorcycle. In November, Daimler’s younger son Adolf undertook the first journey from Cannstatt to Untertürkheim, achieving speeds up to 12 km/h.

105 years ago – 11 - 17 August 1905: The first Herkomer Race, a 937-kilometre touring car competition across southern Germany, ended in a triple victory for Mercedes: Edgar Ladenburg, Hermann Weingand and Willy Pöge took the first three places in the general classification.


80 years ago – 9 - 10 August 1930: Rudolf Caracciola won the International Klausenpass Race in a Mercedes-Benz SSK, setting a new sports car record in the process.(more about Rudolf Caracciola)

65 years ago – August 1945: Production of the 4.5-tonne Mercedes-Benz L 4500 truck started up again at the Gaggenau plant. A total of 290 units were built by the end of the year, all in the simplest design. For example, they had a standard cab made of wood, no bumpers and no guide rods.

65 years ago – August 1945: The project group was set up for the Unimog, the “Universal-Motor-Gerät”. The original U 1 model was presented in 1947.(more about the Unimog History)

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