1968 -- the Mercedes-Benz W 114, 250 C and 250 CE models were Introduced

Below is taken from a M-B news release. The English has some rough spots, particularly related to the use of the present instead of past tense.  Useful material, however. I did a bit of editing but not completely.

Mercedes-Benz 280 C or 280 CE of the 114 model series, side view left, photo from 1971.

In November 1968, Mercedes-Benz unveiled the 114 model series coupés. In addition to the 250 C with the then most powerful sedan engine, the 250 CE was also available, whose six-cylinder injection engine is reserved for the coupés. The two-door long-distance vehicles round off the top end of the "Stroke Eight" model range. Today, the coupés are among the sought-after classics on offer from Mercedes-Benz Classic. The premiere 50 years ago marked the starting point of the history of coupés in the upper mid-range series by Mercedes-Benz.

Stuttgart. Mercedes-Benz set a benchmark for elegance 50 years ago, right in the middle of the 1968 revolution: in January 1968, the "Stroke Eight" sedans of the 115 and 114 model series set new stylistic and technical standards. Now, the coupés of the 114 model series round off the top end of the model range of this first independent upper mid-range series by Mercedes-Benz and establish the tradition of today's Mercedes-Benz E-Class coupés. The third "Stroke Eight" body variant to follow in December 1968 were the saloons with a long wheelbase and, later on, chassis for special-purpose bodies.

The experts were impressed by the two-door long-distance vehicle with its high-quality interior equipment, including carpeting and elegant wood veneer on the dashboard. Trade magazine Auto Motor und Sport stated: "The coupé also provides the level of comfort missing from the saloon. A touch of luxury is offered in a functional package at an acceptable price."

Technically, the coupé closely resembles the saloon. Its design, however, clearly sets the sporty-elegant touring car apart from the four-door model: the front and rear windows were flatter than those of the saloon and, together with the roofline, which is 45 millimeters lower, created a dynamic silhouette. There were also frameless and fully retractable side windows at the front and rear. Removing the B-pillar creates generous, open areas. The overall style is harmoniously rounded off by the bumper, which extends up to the rear wheel section.

By the end of production in August 1976, Mercedes-Benz had built a total of more than 67,000 "Stroke Eight" coupés of the 114 model series. The most successful model, with 21,787 units, is the 250 CE. The top-of-the-line model ─ the 280 CE ─ is built 11,518 times. Some 60 percent of the coupés are exported. Today, the coupés are among the most sought-after classics on offer from ALL TIME STARS, the Mercedes-Benz Classic dealer (https://www.mercedes-benz.com/de/mercedes-benz/classic/all-time-stars/).

From the standard bodywork to the "Stroke Eight" coupé

In 1968, Mercedes-Benz not only established the tradition of the E-Class coupés with those of the 114 model series, but also advanced the differentiation of the model range. After World War II, the Stuttgart-based brand initially opts to use standard bodies for passenger cars of the 180 (W 120) to 220 SE (W 128) model series. This means that many identical pressed parts can be shared, including windscreen frames, front doors and trunk ─ the basis for efficient production. The possibility of utilizing streamlined body construction techniques is applied to an even greater extent in the 110 and 111/112 model series, whereby the vehicle bodies resemble each other from the windscreen all the way back to the boot.

In 1960, Prof. Dr. Fritz Nallinger, head of development, proposed subdividing the passenger car model series into two areas. This is how the "Stroke Eight" model series family was created, named after the abbreviation "/8" for the year, it was unveiled as an independent, upper mid-range series (1968). The four-cylinder models are grouped as the 115 model series, whereas the six-cylinder variants form the 114 series and also lay the groundwork for a coupé. The contract for the development of the elegant two-door model based on the saloons was awarded on 11 December 1964. As early as 3 September 1965, Nallinger presented two coupé designs to the management board.

The fact that the "Stroke Eight" coupé, launched in November 1968, is positioned at the top of the family makes the choice of engines clear: from the saloons, Mercedes-Benz uses only the six-cylinder carburettor engine borrowed from the top 250 (96 kW/130 hp). The variant of the M 114 engine with Bosch D-Jetronic electronic fuel injection in the 250 CE (110 kW/150 hp) is reserved for the coupés. This more powerful variant quickly becomes the star of the new coupés. "Motor-Rundschau" as well as "auto motor und sport" measure a top speed of 198 km/h for the 250 CE, and "Automobil Revue" in Berne even measures 199 km/h. The car thus almost reached the magical mark of 200 km/h, which was still outstanding for passenger cars at the time. It goes without saying that Mercedes-Benz chose the Hockenheimring race track to present its coupés 50 years ago. Starting in 1969, the Mercedes-Benz 250 C with a 2.8-litre M 130 engine (96 kW/130 hp) with reduced output is offered for export to North America. From 1972 onwards, this engine becomes the standard for the 250 C, when Mercedes-Benz presents the new 280 C (118 kW/160 hp) and 280 CE (136 kW/185 hp) coupé models.

In 1973, Mercedes-Benz introduces the facelifted coupés of the upper mid-range series. The Stuttgart-based brand retains the 250 C, 280 C and 280 CE engines. All the more extensive are the other changes, some of which are borrowed from the SL and SLC sports cars. Here, the focus is on safety, which translates into movable outside mirrors that can be adjusted from the inside, dirt-repellent trim on the A-pillars and dirt-resistant tail lamps. As early as 1973, the coupés of the 114 model series are fitted with the four-spoke safety steering wheel from the S-Class, head restraints and automatic safety belts for the front seats as standard equipment. The simultaneously revised design includes elements of the S-Class 116 model series introduced in 1972, such as a low and wide radiator grille and a redesigned front apron.

The introduction of the 250 C and 250 CE models in late autumn 1968 marked the beginning of a success story that continues up to this day. The current E-Class coupé of the C 238 model series advances this excellent history by impressing with its wide range of models and regularly enjoying top sales numbers when it comes to new sports car registrations in Germany.

Convertible -- when was it first used in automotive literature?

Note the ad taken from the January 14, 1914 The Horseless Age. Clearly the term convertible is used. Then note my discussion on closed and open cars and the use of the word convertible as mentioned in a note to my 2nd edition of The Automobile file and American Life. One must conclude that the label convertible goes back long before 1921. My hunch is that a good bit of automotive history is nothing more than well-worn passed along stories from one generation to another. We need to throughly exhume the past and rescue it from complacent historians, including myself!

---

For the car to be an extension of the home, it had to be closed rather than open, unlike the pre-WWI roadster or touring car. Thus, the first and undoubtedly most important step in creating personal space in the automobile was the closed steel body. Historian James J. Flink has called this development “the single most significant automotive innovation.”⁴²Almost immediately after World War I, public demand increased dramatically for a closed car that would no longer be a seasonal pleasure vehicle, but rather all-weather transportation. The few closed body cars built before WWI were extremely expensive and the work of custom coach builders. This rise in demand during the 1920s, coupled with a remarkable number of concurrent technical innovations in plate glass and steel manufacture, resulted in a revolution in production methods, productivity, and economies of scale. William J. Abernathy [PJB1] has carefully characterized the transformation that took place on the shop floor and assembly line, the first fruits of which occurred when in 1921 Hudson first mass-produced a closed car. The transition away from rag tops (the word convertible was first used in 1927 and officially added to the Society of Automotive Engineers lexicon in 1928) was rapid and contributed to a venerable prodigy of production by the end of the 1920s, as depicted in Table 4.⁴³

43. Gunnell’s assertion that the word convertible was first used in 1927 is not true. In 1923 Nordyke & Marmon Company published a brochure entitled “Shall I buy an Open Car, or a Closed Car”? A Practical answer to this Question. (Brochure is in author’s collection). In it the claim is made “To give you a closed car now, an open car next spring, and a fine motor car the year ‘round all at the price of an open car, there is the Marmon Convertible Phaethon. It is a fine family car for thrifty people who are looking ahead. It is literally both a closed car and an open."

“GM Plant Closures: What if this turning point in automotive history fails to turn”

“GM Plant Closures: What if this turning point in automotive history fails to turn?”

There is a revolution taking place in personal mobility, or so we are told. Zero emissions – perhaps critical if we are to effectively deal with climate change. Zero accidents – autonomous driving systems are on the way, we are told, even if we are hesitant to fully accept them. But what about zero jobs in the Heartland, as we may be left behind in this massive transition in the global economy and automotive business? Is this current "revolution" just an excuse for GM management shed its union workers, close older plants, and move operations to low-cost labor locations? What about this incongruity -- if the new wave is to feature zero emission vehicles, why is the Volt being dropped?

The GM story demonstrates that despite a government bailout in the not too distant past, loyalty to workers and communities only goes so far. GM leadership is gambling about the future, and thus product lines, bloated management, and hourly workers will be let go to make the organization more “nimble.” Perhaps this is what capitalism and creative destruction are all about. 

 General Motors has a public image that it must carefully manage, and it may not be doing it well at the moment. To close factories in bad times is understandable, but in a time of flush prosperity, it is puzzling to say the least. Repurpose Lordstown, Oshawa, and White Marsh. Remember your corporate heritage, and use it to guide the future.

The Contentious Relationship Between General Motors and the UAW, 1962

From  Ed -- he is keeping the Blog going right now!!!

After several years of it being in a storage shed, I finally got around to going through my late father-in-law's tool box that he used during his many years as a union machinist with TEREX in northeastern Ohio.  TEREX, at the time, was a subsidiary of General Motors and of course made huge earth moving equipment.  

The company was starting to decline around 1962 and was considering permanently laying off union workers and machinists.  In my late father-in-law's tool box -- at the bottom -- were various letters that the head of the local union had written to the CEO of TEREX and I was struck by the first page of the one here attached.

Its seems that the CEO had written all hourly employees telling them that hard times were coming and "better prepare" for extensive layoffs and if things didn't improve from a competitive position, then the company might close or be bought by a competitor.  In essence: "Shape up union workers."

But in this letter, I had to laugh when I read that the head of the union tells the CEO that his letter to employees is filled with "hogwash and reeks of the style of a General Motors Word Merchant."

But having now gone through all the letters that my father-in-law saved -- correspondence between the local union and plant management, it dawned on me how contentious labor-management relations were in this plant and, of course, quite often in the auto industry.

For Two Americans, A Fatal Automobile Accident in France-- 1902

Another contribution from Ed:

You are living in the rural town of Xenia, Ohio, in 1902 and this appears on the front page of the Xenia Daily Gazette.  

Yes, the story is about several wealthy Americans killed in a motorcar accident in Paris but the grizzly details are what the story shares with the reader.  The couple's bodies fell "with a heavy thud to the ground."

"Mr. Fair's head had been crushed in while his wife's head was split."  Note that the article tells us that the chauffeur in the car apparently survived, but "became insane."

Is the reader in rural Xenia caused to say to himself: "Darn, these horse-less carriages can be downright dangerous................maybe I'll stick with a horse and buggy for a while."  

Or, conversely, even learning of the incredible dangers of early automobiles, why did people flock to them nonetheless?

p.s. -- for those who have done research in turn of the century newspapers, you know that "grizzly details" were expected to accompany articles about car wreaks, murders, suicides, etc.  The stuff that sells newspapers as they said.

1901 -- perhaps the first girl in the U.S. with a driver's license -- at age 13!!

A contribution from Ed:

Also found on the front page of the Xenia (Ohio) Daily Gazette in July of 1901 noting what the writer speculated might be the youngest female driver in the world to obtain a driver's license at age 13 and in Chicago.  Note that the driver's examinations in Chicago was given at the time by the City Electrician.

So imagine a family living on a farm near Xenia, Ohio, reading that a 13 year old girl had gained the license to operate a horse-less carriage.  Would mother and father have said to one another: "My God what is this world coming to?"  

The liberation of a young girl before women's liberation?  New technologies relentlessly encroaching even into our youth?

!897 -- a low-priced automobile for the common man, and not the rich

Conventional automotive history asserts that only Americans Ransom Olds, Billy Durant, and Henry Ford recognized that the vast potential market for the horseless carriage comprised of farmers and not simply a niche segment consisting of the well-to-do and urban elite.

For example, see my 2nd edition, pp.47-8: "While most of the early pioneers in the automobile industry in America thought of their cars as leisure objects for the well to do, only Ford, Ransom Olds, and Billy Durant thought differently. This triumvirate found ways to meet the demand from a mass consumer market that desired to break the bonds of place."

The idea of a mass market for a low-priced vehicle was voiced as early as 1897. Making it happen took production technology resulting in economies of scale and organizational strategies leading to vertical and horizontal integration.

Front Page of the Xenia (Ohio) Daily Gazette, July 13, 1897

HORSELESS VEHICLE IS COMING- PRETTY SOON

And They Say Will Be Within Reach of All 

Said Captain Mattox in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune.  Horseless carriages at $100 each or less is the hope now held out to those who would ride -- motor vehicles for the masses and every man his own motorman. 

Experiments have been in progress in that city which have brought forth the announcement that the market is soon to be flooded with horseless carriages at a price that will bring them within the reach of everybody. 

Every man or woman who is now able to own a bicycle will soon be able to own an automobile road cart or a landau or a victoria for the use of themselves, their families and friends. They will need no stable in which to keep horses, no hostler, no hay rack or harness.

Porsche Expands its Operations at Zuffenhausen

The history of the Zuffenhausen site began eighty years ago when the company known as Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche KG moved from the center of Stuttgart to the northern district. The company wrote automotive history right from the start: the 0 series of what would become the VW Beetle was made in Zuffenhausen, as were three Type 64 race coupes in the year 1939. From 1950 the first sports cars of the Porsche brand were made on the factory grounds—starting with the legendary 356 and followed by the 911 in 1964. The company’s historical headquarters are now at the threshold of a new era. A factory within the factory is being built for Taycan production. From 2019 the sports-car maker will manufacture not only its current two-door vehicles but also its first standard-series car with a fully electric drive. More than 1,200 new jobs are being created. Porsche is investing around €700 million in Zuffenhausen alone.

Tens of thousands of metric tons of steel have gone into making the new body shop, paint shop, and conveyor bridge as well as the halls for assembly and logistics, electric drive, and axle production. That’s roughly the amount needed to make one hundred thousand 911 Carrera bodies. Some twenty-eight thousand truckloads of earth have been excavated at the site. And 112,000 cubic meters of concrete have been delivered. Nearly three hundred planners and as many as three thousand plant and construction experts have been involved in transporting this enormous amount of material through Stuttgart’s dense traffic and in using it at the current construction sites. The deliveries include concrete columns that can weigh up to one hundred metric tons. In short, there’s a lot going on in these weeks and months in Zuffenhausen.

Creative ways of stretching space

“The heart of Porsche beats in Zuffenhausen,” says Reiner Luth, head planner for the factory project. Series production continues—without any interruptions or delays—right next to the buildings under construction. Luth draws a medical analogy to describe the work that’ll enable the Taycan to roll from Zuffenhausen’s production lines. “We’re basically doing open-heart surgery,” he says. Needless to say, this “procedure” poses a number of challenges.

The timetable alone is ambitious. In late 2015 Porsche made the decision to produce the Taycan at its headquarters. The clock has been ticking ever since, with series production scheduled to start in 2019. But that’s not the only challenge. “The space here is already densely packed,” explains Jürgen King, head of central construction management. He’s coordinating the project for Porsche. “For us to do the construction work, five thousand employees had to move—in about half a year.”

Porsche is currently adding production facilities for the Taycan to its headquarters

Porsche’s headquarters is bordered on all sides. It directly adjoins residential areas, property owned by other companies, train tracks, and streets. For example, a major four-lane street separates the assembly line from the new paint shop and the Taycan body shop. These close quarters call for ingenuity. When adding new facilities to the site in the past, Porsche built vertically—and is doing the same thing now. Production of the new electric Porsche will take place on four levels of the new assembly and logistics hall and the body shop. The assembly process will proceed from top to bottom, moving down to the ground floor where the new sports cars will roll from the hall following their final inspections. The technical systems that control all of the production processes are housed in the cellar. The result is a logistical masterpiece nearly unprecedented in the automotive sector.

Looking out at the expansion work, Luth speaks of a “gigantic challenge.” And King adds: “Given these framework conditions, what we have is not only the biggest but also the fastest-moving construction site in Porsche’s history.” The decision to expand the factory at Zuffenhausen has never been questioned. The megaproject will make the company headquarters better equipped for the future. It’s a strong affirmation of the site and its people—and guarantees Taycan customers the quality of being “made in Germany.“

Sustainable cars from sustainable production

The electric drive systems and axles for the first e-Porsche will also be made in Zuffenhausen. “We’re especially proud of them,” says Luth. The same applies to the goal of a CO₂-neutral factory—“the icing on the cake of all these challenges,” as King puts it. Plans call for forty-two thousand square meters of green roof cover and for trees to be planted around the new factory halls. At the same time, older buildings that are inefficient and less environmentally friendly will disappear. People who visit or simply drive past the headquarters in the future should immediately recognize that Porsche places a premium on sustainability and climate protection. “When we’re finished expanding the factory for the Taycan, Porsche will produce zero-emission cars in a CO₂-neutral plant,” says construction head King. “And that,” he adds, “is a well-rounded result.”

The view from inside the new conveyor bridge reveals a lot of activity at Porsche’s headquarters. New structures are being added to the old, and the red-brick building—the nucleus of the site—is surrounded by steel and glass facades that herald a new era for a company rich in tradition. In addition to classic sports cars, the first Porsches with a fully electric drive will be made here starting in late 2019. The conveyor bridge, one of the longest in the world, will transport drive system components and painted e-car bodies from the paint shop to the assembly line—at a height of twenty meters above a four-lane main road in Stuttgart that divides the headquarters in half.

Length: 890 meters
Levels: 2
Facade: 17,000 square meters
Windows: 2

Spacious quarters for the Taycan: the new assembly and logistics hall will be Porsche’s largest building complex in Zuffenhausen. The enormous dimensions make its construction a balancing act for the planners. While the four-level structure is going up in record time, production of the 911, Boxster, and Cayman, as well as Porsche engines, continues despite the construction. Assembly systems for the new e-Porsche are currently being installed in the hall. And the first standard-series Taycans will roll from the assembly line next year.

Excavated earth: 240,000 cubic meters
Height: 38 meters
Depth below ground: 25 meters
Gross floor area: 62,000 square meters
Hall volume: 360,000 cubic meters
Prefab components: 2,760

Final work on the interior—including the floor and ceiling—of the paint shop designed specifically for the Taycan is taking place while the equipment is being installed and the paint systems set up. One of the building’s special features: the steel structure is self-supporting.

Length: 216 meters
Height: 28 meters
Material: 6,900 metric tons of steel

The new body shop is the second-largest building complex at the site, surpassed only by the Taycan assembly and logistics hall. Construction started in the last quarter of 2015. The first preproduction bodies are already being made here—for the 911 and, in the future, for the Taycan as well.

Hall volume: 320,000 cubic meters
Gross floor area: 65,000 square meters
Height: 30 meters
Material: 20,000 metric tons of steel, 35,000 cubic meters of concrete

1938: Ferdinand Porsche’s design office moves from Kronenstraße in Stuttgart’s city center to Zuffenhausen. Today’s Plant 1 has just been built.

1953: The assembly hall (Plant 2, Building 1) designed by Rolf Gutbrod begins operation. Porsche started making its first sports cars in Zuffenhausen three years earlier.

1963: Porsche expands rapidly in the early 1960s. The headquarters are developed further, and car pick-up facilities, a gate, and Plant 3 are added.

1973: After introducing the Porsche 911, the sports-car maker takes over the Reutter body shop in 1964. Five years later Building 41 is added to Plant 2.

1988: The new body shop is built. It’ll become Plant 5, which is connected to Plant 2 by a conveyor bridge. Production of the Porsche 911 Type 964 begins shortly thereafter.

2015: Six plants, a Porsche Center, and the Porsche Museum—the Zuffenhausen site now has an area of 614,000 square meters. The historical Plant 1 is just one building among many.

2018: 10,600 employees

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology: Mercedes-Benz GLC F-CELL

Berlin. Mercedes-Benz is setting a further milestone on the road to emission-free driving with the handover of the first GLC F-CELL vehicles to selected customers in the German market. The Mercedes-Benz GLC F-CELL (combined hydrogen consumption: 0.34 kg/100 km, combined CO2 emissions: 0 g/km, combined electrical consumption: 13.7 kWh/100 km)1 is unique worldwide as it features both fuel cells and a battery drive which can be charged externally using plug-in technology. Alongside various national and regional ministries as well as the National Organisation Hydrogen (NOW) and H2 Mobility, the first customers in the German market also include Deutsche Bahn, the German railways. Further handovers will also be made this year, including to the companies Air Liquide, Shell, Linde AG and also the cities of Stuttgart and Hamburg. Other business as well as private customers in Germany will also be able to enjoy access to the GLC F-CELL from the spring of 2019 via Mercedes-Benz Rent.

The Mercedes-Benz GLC F-CELL is a unique plug-in hybrid as apart from electricity it can also run on pure hydrogen. The SUV is an all-electric vehicle suitable for everyday use which emits no CO2 emissions whatsoever during operation. The interplay between battery and fuel cell, a long range and short refuelling times make the GLC F‑CELL a vehicle which boasts high everyday practicality. Two carbon-fibre-encased tanks in the vehicle floor hold 4.4 kg of hydrogen. Thanks to globally standardised 700-bar tank technology, the hydrogen supply can be replenished within just three minutes - as quickly as is customary when refuelling a combustion-engined car. With a hydrogen consumption of around 1 kg/100 km, the GLC F-CELL achieves around 430 hydrogen-based kilometres1 in the NEDC cycle; in hybrid mode it additionally delivers up to 51 km1 on a fully charged battery. At the same time, an output of 155 kW helps to ensure high driving dynamics.

Coordinated: operating strategy with a unique variety of combinations

The innovative plug-in fuel cell drive combines the advantages of both zero-emission drive technologies and, thanks to its intelligent operating strategy, continuously optimises the use of both energy sources in line with the current operating situation. This is also influenced by the selected drive program: ECO, COMFORT or SPORT.

There are four operating modes:

HYBRID: the vehicle draws power from both energy sources. Power peaks are handled by the battery, while the fuel cell runs in the optimum efficiency range.

F-CELL: the state of charge of the high-voltage battery is kept constant by the energy from the fuel cell. Only hydrogen is consumed. This mode is ideal for steady cruising over long distances.

BATTERY: the GLC F-CELL runs all-electrically and is powered by the high-voltage battery. The fuel cell system is not in operation. This is the ideal mode for short distances.

CHARGE: charging the high-voltage battery has priority, for example in order to recharge the battery for the maximum overall range prior to refuelling with hydrogen or to create power reserves.

In all operating modes, the system features an energy recovery function, which makes it possible to recover energy during braking or coasting and to store it in the battery.

Marketing in hydrogen cities

In view of the new technology and the fact that the hydrogen filling station network has only just started to expand, the market launch of the GLC F-CELL is taking place in selected metropolitan regions. Above all the focus is on major cities which are already comparatively well equipped with hydrogen filling stations, such as Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich and Cologne. At market launch the SUV will be handed over successively to selected customers in Germany. The GLC F-CELL will be offered exclusively in the form of a full-service rental model. This will include all maintenance and possible repairs together with a comprehensive warranty package covering the entire rental period.

Experience fuel cell technology – renting the GLC F-CELL

From the spring of 2019, other business as well as private customers will also be able to experience the new fuel cell technology and rent the vehicle via Mercedes-Benz Rent from one of the seven GLC F-CELL outlets throughout Germany. The GLC F-CELL will be available for both short and long-term rental via the Premium Car Rental service from Mercedes-Benz.

Infrastructure is of vital importance

A full-coverage infrastructure is an essential requirement for the success of electric mobility in Germany. Both the expansion of electric charging stations as well hydrogen refuelling stations is currently being pushed ahead. Whether at home, at work, on the road or when shopping: currently there are already various ways to supply electric vehicles with power. Also when it comes to the hydrogen infrastructure, progress is constantly being made. Together with its partners in the H2 Mobility joint venture, Daimler has drawn up a plan of action. By the end of 2019, the hydrogen refuelling station network is already expected to grow from its current level of 50 to some 100 stations. The long-term objective of the partners is a network of up to 400 hydrogen refuelling stations. Similar infrastructure projects are being promoted in Europe, the USA and Japan.

Daimler is part of Hydrogen Mobility Europe (H2ME), a lighthouse project promoted by FCH JU which combines Europe's leading initiatives in the field of hydrogen mobility – in Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Scandinavia. Via H2ME, the FCH JU is promoting the expansion of a large-scale H2 filling station infrastructure and the development of fuel cell vehicles such as the GLC F-CELL with the goal of enabling emission-free driving all over Europe. Daimler AG has received funding from the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 671438 and No 700350. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, Hydrogen Europe and Hydrogen Europe Research.

Pioneer: Daimler has been working on the fuel cell for more than 30 years

Daimler researchers have been working on fuel cell technology since the 1980s. In 1994, Mercedes-Benz unveiled the first fuel cell vehicle to the global public: the NECAR 1. Many other vehicles followed: to date, fuel cell vehicles from Mercedes-Benz, including the B-Class F-CELL, have together covered over eighteen million kilometres, thereby demonstrating the maturity of the powertrain concept.

Auto Racing and Drug Smuggling: The Stories of Bill and Don Whittington and Randy Lanier

!979 Le Mans winning Kremer Porsche

Don (left) and Bill Whittington (center) chat with actor Paul Newman at the Le Mans race in 1979.

I continue to learn more an more about the automobile and American life. The stories of Bill and Don Whittington and Randy Lanier sound too good to be true. All three were involved in high-stakes marijuana smuggling in South Florida during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Whittington brothers won Le Mans in 1979 in a production car, the first to do so since 1953. 

 But the wheels came off in the 1980s. Bill was  sentenced to 15 years in prison for tax evasion and a conspiracy to smuggle drugs. Bill Whittington, now 59, pleaded guilty to income-tax evasion and conspiracy to smuggle marijuana in 1986. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to surrender aircraft, race cars and boats valued at $7 million. He was released from custody in November 1990 and for a time managed a Pagosa Springs, Colorado resort. 

Don Whittington, 61, pleaded guilty to money laundering in connection with his brother Bill's illegal activity. He was released from an 18-month federal sentence in March 1988. Their Le Mans-winning Kremer Porsche was the center subsequent litigation with the Indy Museum over whether it was a gift or a loan.

Don subsequently piloted a hot-rod P-51 Mustang at Reno and other air races. Later he owned and operated World Jet, a charter and maintenance service at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. 

Brother Dale Whittington also drove at Indy.  He did not serve time in prison, and raced sports cars as late as 2000. He was working for his brother at World Jet when his son discovered his body in his home on June 14, 2003. The Broward County, Fla., coroner attributed 43-year-old Dale's death to a drug overdose.

Randy Lanier at Watkins Glen, 1984

Randy Lanier was the highest finishing rookie driver at Indianapolis in 1986. A drug smuggler in the 1970s, he became interested in sports cares after going to the Miami Auto Show in 1979. He later bought a rusty 1957 Porsche and by 1982 found himself running dope and at Daytona and Le Mans. He established the Blue Thunder race team in 1984, funded by drug sales, nd proved to be astonishingly successful in the IMSA Camel GT Series. In March 1984 the team placed 2nd at the 13 hours of Sebring and then a month later won the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix at Riverside. Blue Thunder won half of the rest of the series races, and then in 1984 won the Camel GT Championship.
Later arrested, released and then fleeing to Barbuda, Lanier was finally apprehended by the FBI and sentenced to life without parole under the Super Drug Kingpin Law. Released in 2014, his story needs to be told in a book and perhaps a film!

Jerry Seinfeld and his Porsches

An interview published in a Porsche publication -- 

1. What is love?
All you need.

2. How are you?
Good. And you?

3. How would you describe the Porsche 911 in a nutshell?
A true sports car. Intelligent, complete engineering, and brilliant design language.

4. Which very simple things can make you very happy?
Shifting gear. Using a turn signal. Closing a trunk lid.

5. What would you never do in a 911?
Eat food.

6. What’s your favorite road?
Encinal Canyon Road in Malibu, California.

7. What can distract you?
My kids. Or something falling off a truck.

8. Three things you would take to a deserted island?
A 356 Speedster, a 964 Carrera RS, and a 918 Spyder.

9. Whom or what do you admire?
Integrity.

10. What on a 911 could you do without?
Most of the time, air conditioning.

11. And what couldn’t you?
Great steering.

12. What music did you wake up to this morning?
The Beatles.

13. Your favorite film?
The Graduate by Mike Nichols, because it’s mostly about cars and girls.

14. Your favorite book?
Harpo Speaks! by Harpo Marx.

15. Your latest social media post?
I’ll pass.

16. Your most treasured possession?
The 1970 Targa Florio-winning Porsche 908/03 chassis number 008.

17. Coffee or tea?
Coffee.

18. The 911 moment of your life?
January 20, 1988. Bought my first one, a black Carrera. Still love it.

19. Your best advice?
Pay attention.

20. What would no one expect of you?
Who cares what other people expect?

Born: 1954
Residence: New York City, USA
Profession: Comedian
Porsche: A large number of 911s