Cars You Should Know: Mercedes-Benz

Carl Benz was a German-born automotive engineer, engine designer and entrepreneur. After starting a successful company in 1883 (Benz & Cie), he was able to focus his energy working on a horseless carriage. Not long after, in 1886, he received a patent for the three-wheeled "vehicle with gas engine drive." He is widely believed to be the original inventor of the automobile.

In 1888, the first long-distance drive was taken in the car—both out of convenience and to dispel any hesitancy held by would-be drivers. Carl’s wife, Bertha Benz, along with two of her sons, drove from Mannheim to Pforzheim (a 65-mile journey). During the drive, she repaired multiple issues and essentially invented brake pads when she hired a shoemaker to nail leather onto the brake blocks.

Also in 1886, about 60 miles away, German engineer Gottlieb Daimler was working on an automobile invention of his own. Working with his business partner, Wilhelm Maybach, Daimler successfully installed a four-stroke engine into a carriage, creating what is considered the first four-wheeled motor car. Benz and Daimler didn’t know each other, but they independently revolutionized the future of driving in the same year. In 1890, Daimler and Maybach began Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG, translated to Daimler Motors Corporation).

After years of independent growth, and after the passing of Gottlieb Daimler, Benz & Cie. and DMG merged as the Daimler-Benz company in 1926. They branded their cars under Mercedes-Benz, honoring the most important model of the DMG automobiles, the 1902 Mercedes 35 hp, along with the Benz name. The rest, as they say, is history.

Today, Mercedes-Benz is often seen as one of the top luxury car brands, praised for its design, style and performance. If you have a client with a Mercedes-Benz, it’s highly likely they’re an enthusiast who would benefit from a specialty policy.

Let’s take a look at some the most popular Mercedes-Benz models we see at Hagerty, so you know what to look for in your own book of business.

SL (Roadsters)

Developed out of a race car that was built with production car components, the SL (which stands for “Sport Light”) was introduced in 1954. The first-generation SL (W198), known as the 300SL, featured distinctive doors that hinged on the roof, which were a workaround of its lightweight construction and earned the car its nickname: Gullwing. (Side note: Until about 20 years ago, Mercedes-Benz model numbers generally referred to the size of the engine. The 300SL was a 3.0-liter engine, 190SL was a 1.9 liter, 230SL was a 2.3 liter, and so on.)

S-Class

The S-Class is an abbreviation of Special Class, which has long been the flagship sedan of the Mercedes-Benz car lineup. The S-Class provided many of the parts for the first SL in the 1950s, and the two have continued to overlap since. The SL is the two-seat convertible, while the S-Class has four or five seats. Usually available only as a sedan, Mercedes-Benz has occasionally made coupe and convertible versions, too.

E-Class

The E-Class is the mid-level model of the Mercedes-Benz car lineup. Introduced in the 1950s, it was not officially known as the E-Class until the early 1990s, with the E prefix in the model name. The E originally referred to the German word for fuel-injection engine (Einspritzmotor) as a suffix, but it wasn’t exclusive to the mid-level cars. When fuel-injection became more common, the E became a prefix, which denoted Executive, and appeared only on the mid-level cars. Usually available only as a 4-door sedan, the E-Class has occasionally been available as a coupe, wagon, and convertible.

G-Wagon (Forgotten classic)

The G-Wagon (or G-Wagen) is short for Geländewagen, which translates to off-road vehicle, was launched in 1979.Although it’ s been built with lots of different engines, and in two-door, four-door, and cabriolet bodies, the overall design/silhouette has remained mostly unchanged. The G-Wagon gained notoriety in 1980 when Mercedes-Benz built a popemobile for Pope John Paul II using a cabriolet as the starting point.

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