I’m going to forged my loyalties aside and admit it: Mercedes-Benz has been making a few of Germany’s best cars for over a century.
Not only Germany but the entire world, for that matter. I don’t think that’s up for debate either, regardless of what number of cubic inches you want under the hood or what number of waifu pillows you have got in your bed.
It’s an opinion I’ve maintained for years, but it surely was really cemented during my visit to the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany last November.
In any case, no other manufacturer can claim to be the one who invented the motor automobile, can they?
It’s incredible just what number of legendary and as-new Mercedes-Benz icons are gathered under one roof, from the earliest examples of pick-up trucks to a trio of SLs and even a Sauber C9 as a part of the motorsport display. The range of vehicles produced by Mercedes-Benz is solely astounding.
Speaking of motorsport, seeing the switch of Germany’s national racing color from white to silver before my very eyes was a reminder of how much influence Mercedes-Benz has all the time had on the automotive world. ‘White Arrows’ does sound type of cool, however the ‘Silver Arrows’ has rather more of a hoop to it.
Where else could you see a 6.9-litre V8 SEL parked next to an Argentine bus? Or how a couple of Mercedes-Benz Actros automobile transporter carrying an SEC, SE and 220 wagon on its back?
Mercedes-Benz has an incredible repute for each luxury and reliability the world-over.
Who’d have thought that Idi Amin and Carmela Soprano were each keen on the three-pointed star, eh?
And that’s before we even think about the engineering powerhouse that’s AMG. The foresight Mercedes-Benz had to buy the well-known tuner was incredible, and it led to AMG making a bonafide performance automobile range in house at Mercedes-Benz, resulting in F1 domination.
How about Maybach? Being turned around from an all-but-forgotten brand right into a real Rolls-Royce rival… then failing, admittedly, but once more being reborn as a hugely successful sub-brand under Mercedes-Maybach.
BMW purchasing Alpina involves mind, but I can’t help think the Büchloe brand will simply change into a trim level within the near future…
The highlights of my visit to the Mercedes-Benz Museum were the pre-war cars, especially the sporting models. I’ve seen the ridiculous amounts they’ve sold for at auction through the years, and their successes at events like the celebrated Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, but it surely never made that much sense to me.
Brands corresponding to Bugatti, Delahaye, Duesenberg and Hispano-Suiza have an incredible allure as a result of their repute on the upper echelon of the automotive industry in its childhood. Mercedes-Benz, nevertheless, make vans and trucks and compact cars – but I used to be absolutely bewitched once I saw their early models in person.
Huge and imposing, with stunning curves from every angle and incredible details each inside and outside. Standing next to them, I felt like a Hollywood star – or perhaps a Bond villain.
There’s an indescribable sense of quality that radiates from old Mercedes-Benz models. It’s almost as if every automobile within the museum was chiselled from granite or tungsten.
Let me put it to you this fashion. I used to be fortunate enough to be given a 560 SEC to make use of for a few months, and the experience has stayed with me. The steering was heavy, the doors even heavier, and the view over the bonnet was presidential. What I loved probably the most nevertheless were the air vents.
There’s no flimsy little knob to regulate them; as a substitute you progress your entire metal vent assembly up and all the way down to direct air flow, and the plastic vanes have their very own dedicated slide assembly.
If an air-vent can be so over-engineered, just take into consideration how robust the cars was under the skin, eh?
Mario Christou
Instagram: mcwpn, mariochristou.world
www.mariochristou.world
This Article First Appeared At www.speedhunters.com
