This 12 months marks the one hundred and fortieth anniversary of Carl Benz creating the Patent-Motorwagen, so current-day Mercedes-Benz has been doing a ton for its milestone birthday. It wasn’t till forty years after the Patent-Motorwagen’s launch that Daimler and Benz really merged, which makes 2026 the good, clear one hundredth anniversary of Mercedes-Benz as a model. The German automaker is likely one of the most necessary presences within the business, with one of many strongest again catalogs of highway automobiles, race automobiles, prototypes, and past, so the duty of attempting to condense that right into a space-constrained museum show is hard to think about.
However with the brand new exhibit “World-Class: 100 Years of Mercedes-Benz,” the parents over on the Petersen Museum have managed to do a terrific job. Opening to the general public this Saturday, Might 23, the exhibit options 42 completely different automobiles from throughout all 140 years of Mercedes-Benz’s historical past, plus some really improbable promoting artwork, and data boards full of excellent trivia. Museum curator Shervin Nakhjavani says work began on the exhibit when he joined the museum in August 2024, aiming to offer a broad view of the historical past of the corporate, as most individuals within the U.S. solely see Mercedes as a comparatively youthful luxurious model.
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Solely 4 of the automobiles are on mortgage from Mercedes itself, with the remaining coming from non-public house owners and a few well-known collectors, and the number of stuff on show is improbable. I have been fortunate sufficient to go to the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart a handful of occasions, have seen scores of uncommon and necessary Benzes at concours and automobile launches, and I’ve even gone into Mercedes’ secret Holy Halls warehouses. However there have been nonetheless just a few automobiles on this exhibit that I’ve by no means seen in individual earlier than, and I am sure that would be the similar for principally anybody who walks into the room — throughout a gap evening panel, a consultant from Mercedes-Benz’s Traditional Heart mentioned there are some automobiles on show that the corporate would kill to personal.
It begins from the start
Earlier than you even make it to the primary show contained in the museum, there’s an absurd Unimog flatbed transport truck, and a 1966 250SE coupe, and a 1981 240D sedan which have each pushed greater than 1.3 million miles every, so that you’re already off to a superb begin earlier than strolling in. There’s additionally just a few different cool automobiles within the foyer, together with a Brabus Good Roadster Coupe (sadly not the V6 prototype, although).
“World-Class” is positioned within the museum’s largest exhibit corridor on the bottom ground. Proper while you stroll in, there are two automobiles from the pre-merger period: a duplicate Patent-Motorwagen owned by the Petersen, and a 1902 Mercedes Simplex 28 HP Tourer on mortgage from the Keller Assortment, who personal 1 / 4 of the automobiles on show. Seen above subsequent to the Simplex is a 1928 Mercedes-Benz S, the primary efficiency mannequin created after the merger.
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A spectacular 1936 540K Cabriolet by Erdmann & Rossi (the picture on the high of this story) takes middle stage, initially owned by Barbara Hutton and constructed to her specs — she wished pretend exhaust added to the left aspect of the hood for symmetry, and a four-seat format as a result of she most well-liked to be chauffeured. That automobile is now owned by the Kellers, as is a beautiful purple 1936 500K Cabriolet and the black 1938 540K Autobahnkurier, the one surviving automobile out of 4 that gained Better of Present at Pebble Seaside in 2021.
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Subsequent to the Autobahnkurier is likely one of the Mercedes Museum’s automobiles, the experimental 1938 540K Stromlinienwagen that might cruise at over 100 mph. It was developed for the 1938 Berlin-Rome race that was in the end canceled, and it grew to become a take a look at automobile for Dunlop as a substitute. This streamliner is one in every of my high automobiles from the exhibit, nevertheless it’s most likely upstaged by the 1938 W154 System 1 automobile within the nook. This specific W154 debuted with a win on the Nürburgring in 1938, pushed by Dick Seaman, who positively has one of the best race automobile driver title of all time, however who did additionally salute Hitler when he gained mentioned race.
Not your common Gullwing
If the above picture is inflicting your mind to short-circuit a bit, do not fret, you are not having a stroke. That is the 1953 300SL “Hobel” prototype on the correct, named after the German phrase for “slicer” due to the hood crease that appears like a carpenter’s aircraft. It was developed as a successor to the W194 race automobile, however whereas ten have been deliberate, solely this prototype was constructed, as Mercedes determined to concentrate on F1 as a substitute. The Hobel automobile grew to become a direct affect on the manufacturing automobile, the 300SL Gullwing that was launched a 12 months later, which was the Mercedes that basically put the model on the map in the USA.
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The Hobel’s design is a lot weirder than the 300SL manufacturing automobile that adopted; it appears to be like each slightly extra French and slightly extra British, with funky particulars like the additional gill vents. As a pleasant level of comparability, this exhibit positioned a 1954 300SL coupe subsequent to it, one which itself has some distinctive design components as a result of it was a growth prototype that was then transformed for racing. There’s additionally a full-production 300SL roadster on show.
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When the 300SL was new, it was a favourite of celebrities, race automobile drivers, and actually anybody with style, however the two essential celeb-owned automobiles on show on the Petersen are a bit extra tame. There is a purple 1964 Pagoda SL that was initially owned by Walt Disney (and continues to be owned by his household), and a improbable brown 1956 300Sc Cabriolet that was custom-ordered by Clark Gable. Presumably the most important automobile on show is a six-door 1971 600 Pullman Landaulet, one in every of 59 ever made. It was owned by El Hadji Babacar Kébé, one in every of Senegal’s richest males.
The actually great things
Alongside the outer wall of the show are an ideal white 1984 500SEC 5.4 widebody that was initially AMG’s press automobile however was ordered by a tobacco business tycoon, the one W124 Hammer wagon, a CLK DTM coupe, and a yellow SLS Black Collection. The perfect wing and fender flares of the exhibit belong to a 190E Evolution II, although the CLK GTR Roadster offers that wing a run for its cash. The 2005 McLaren-Mercedes MP4-20 F1 present automobile additionally has a superb wing, as does the 1989 Sauber C9 — these Saubers stay a few of my favourite race automobiles ever.
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The SLR Stirling Moss does not have a wing, nevertheless it additionally does not have a windshield or a roof. These have been by no means formally offered within the U.S., so it is at all times cool to see one. However my private favourite automobile within the exhibit, one which I’ve by no means seen in actual life regardless of it being owned by Mercedes, is the 1991 C112 supercar idea. Just like the C111 it is named after, the C112 was constructed as a technical showcase, that includes an energetic suspension system, an automated rear spoiler, and superior aerodynamics. I simply love the design, which has held up rather well, and the inside was a lot nicer than different supercars of the time. Mercedes took virtually 700 orders for the automobile, however the venture was canceled earlier than any have been offered. After three a long time of solely seeing the press pictures and different individuals’s spottings, it was a thrill to lastly see the C112 in individual.
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There’s additionally an orange C111 on show, in fact, one of many early rotary-powered automobiles. I have never talked about a bunch of different nice automobiles within the exhibit, like a rear-engine 170H that predated the Beetle, an ultra-cute bus from 1959, and an ideal classic G-wagen. “World-Class: 100 Years of Mercedes-Benz” will run till April 25, 2027, so you’ve got received loads of time to return see all of it — however as with lots of the museum’s earlier reveals, I am positive some new automobiles will probably be rotated out and in over the course of the subsequent 12 months.
