Mercedes-Benz Classic Anniversaries, 2023

Plenty to Celebrate in 2023!

1 to 20 January 1983 (40 years ago): Jacky Ickx and Claude Brasseur won the Paris–Dakar Rally in a Mercedes-Benz 280 GE.

20 to 26 January 1963 (60 years ago): The Ewy Rosqvist / Ursula Wirth team won the women’s classification of the Monte Carlo Rally in the Mercedes-Benz 220 SE rally car.

28 January 1938 (85 years ago): World record set by Rudolf Caracciola on the Frankfurt-Darmstadt motorway at 432.7 km/h. This record remained unbroken for 79 years.

9 February 1998 (25 years ago): The first A-Class vehicles equipped with ESP® as standard left the assembly line.

23 February 1928 (95 years ago): Hans Herrmann born in Stuttgart. He was a works driver in the 1950s when Mercedes-Benz re-entered motorsport.

4 to 14 March 1993 (30 years ago): The Mercedes-Benz 500 GE V8 special model celebrated its premiere at the Geneva Motor Show – a harbinger of later G models with V8 engines.

5 to 15 March 1998 (25 years ago): The CLK Cabriolet (208 model series) and the E 55 AMG
Estate (210 model series) were unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show.

14 to 24 March 1963 (60 years ago): Mercedes-Benz presented the 230 SL (W 113). The “Pagoda” was the world’s first sports car with a safety body.

1 May to 31 October 1893 (130 years ago): Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft exhibited the first operational automobile in the USA, at the Chicago World Fair.

10 May 1993 (30 years ago): Presentation of the first Mercedes-Benz C-Class (202 model series). At the same time, all passenger car models were given the new nomenclature.

2 July 1903 (120 years ago): Camille Jenatzy won the Gordon Bennett race in a private Mercedes-Simplex 60 hp – instead of the fire-damaged new 90 hp works racing car.

13 to 21 August 1983 (40 years ago): The Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.3-16 (W 201) set three world records and nine class records in Nardò.

27 to 31 August 1963 (60 years ago): The Spa–Sofia–Liège Rally was won by Eugen Böhringer and Klaus Kaiser in the Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (W 113).

8 September 1953 (70 years ago): Mercedes-Benz presented the 180 model (W 120) to the press. The “Ponton” saloon was an important new design of the post-war period.

9 September 1923 (100 years ago): The Benz Tropfen racing car, the world’s first competition car with a mid-engine, achieved success at Monza.

9 to 19 September 1993 (30 years ago): The C 36 AMG, E 36 AMG, E 60 AMG and SL 60 AMG were unveiled at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt/Main.

9 to 21 September 2003 (20 years ago): The SLR McLaren high-performance sports car (199 model series) and the Vision CLS study premiered at the International Motor Show (IAA).

12 September 1898 (125 years ago): Delivery of the Daimler “Phoenix car” with 9 kW (8 hp) 2.1-litre engine. It was the world’s first automobile with a four-cylinder engine.

12 to 22 September 1963 (60 years ago): The Mercedes-Benz 600 (W 100) had its sensational debut at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt/Main.

1 to 11 October 1998 (25 years ago): The 220-series Mercedes-Benz S-Class celebrated its world premiere at the Paris Motor Show.

4 to 14 October 1928 (95 years ago): The Mercedes-Benz 18/80 hp Nürburg 460 (W 02) was the brand’s first passenger car with an eight-cylinder in-line engine. World premiere in Paris.

1 November 1998 (25 years ago): Following his victory in Suzuka, Mika Häkkinen became the Formula One World Champion. The constructors’ championship went to Team West McLaren-Mercedes.

19 November 1968 (55 years ago): Mercedes-Benz presented the coupés of the 114 model series (“Stroke/8”) in Hockenheim.

22 December 1913 (110 years ago): With a modified version of the “Blitzen-Benz”, L. G “Cupid” Hornsted set two world records at Brooklands.

23 December 1953 (70 years ago): The Mercedes-Benz 220 Coupé (W 187) entered the product range, establishing the brand’s tradition of luxury-class coupés.