STUTTGART (January 4, 2023) – The Mercedes-Benz Classic overview of key dates in 2023: numerous vehicle models celebrate anniversaries, as do motorsport successes and corporate events. Mercedes-Benz Classic will be reporting on these and other topics as the year unfolds. In addition, the regularly published “Classic Notes” and the “Classic Motorsport Newsletter” will feature further anniversaries from the corporate, product and motorsport history of Mercedes-Benz, as well as important birthdays.
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 AMGEstate (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 (120years 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 coupé.