A Mercedes-Benz Vintage Exhibit

A small, tightly hung Mercedes-Benz exhibit. Chrome under still light, pre-war grilles next to mid-century bodies. The photographs stay on surface, badge, and line.

Two houses, one star

In 1886 Karl Benz built the Patent-Motorwagen. In 1901 Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, with Wilhelm Maybach and Paul Daimler, put the Mercedes 35 hp on the road, a break from the horseless carriage. The firms merged in 1926 as Daimler-Benz. The three-pointed star was meant to mark land, water, and air.

• Mercedes-Benz has built papal cars since 1930.
• A 1955 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé sold for about $142 million — the highest price paid at auction for a car.
• Silver Arrow paint began when the team stripped color at the Nürburgring to save weight.
• Four-wheel brakes in 1924; crumple zones in 1959.
• A hybrid appeared as early as 1906.
• Each AMG engine is signed by the one engineer who built it.

Pre-war cars with tall grilles. Later cars with a longer, quieter line. The exhibit is a sequence of bodies, not a museum lecture.

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