Author Archives: Adam Denault

Mercedes Benz Heritage July

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3-5 July 2009 – Goodwood Festival of Speed:
This years Goodwood Festival of Speed will be a celebration of 75 years of the Silver Arrows. Mercedes-Benz will presesnt six original works race cars.
 
Other notable events:
16–22 July 1894 – 115 years ago: Theodor von Liebieg embarked on the first long-distance journey in the history of motoring with his Benz Victoria. He drove from Reichenberg in Bohemia via Mannheim and Gondorf an der Mosel to Reims and back.
22 July 1894 – 115 years ago: The world’s first automobile race – a reliability trial – was staged from Paris to Rouen in France.
4 July 1914 – 95 years ago: Christian Lautenschlager won the French Grand Prix in Lyons driving a 4.5-litre Grand Prix Mercedes. Louis Wagner and Otto Salzer took second and third place respectively driving the same model.
4 July 1954 – 55 years ago: Mercedes-Benz returned to Formula 1 racing with the W 196 R racing car. Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling pulled off a spectacular double victory in Reims, France.
July 1969 – 40 years ago: Daimler-Benz and MAN (Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg AG) established the MTU Group, combining the product fields of high-performance diesel engines and turbojet aero engines.
July 1974 – 35 years ago: The world’s first passenger car with a five-cylinder diesel engine, the Mercedes-Benz 240 D 3.0 (W 115), made its debut. It was also the most powerful diesel passenger car.

Mercedes Benz E Class

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With the launch of the 2010 E Class around the corner, I thought I would give a brief history of what it has brought to the auto industry. 

Technical highlights of the E-Class and its predecessors
136 and 191 series (1946 to 1955)
  • Saloon with all-steel body from 170 S model (1949)
  • Four-cylinder diesel engine in the 170 D model (1949)
  • Short arm/long arm front suspension in the 170 S (1949)
120 and 121 series (1953 to 1962)
  • Three-box body design cuts air resistance and fuel consumption
  • First Mercedes-Benz passenger car to feature self-supporting body design
  • Rear single-joint swing axle (1955)
110 series (1961 to 1968)
  • Safety passenger cell with front and rear crumple zones
  • Dual-circuit brake system with brake booster and disc brakes from 1963
115 and 114 series (1968 to 1976)
  • Diagonal swing axle: rear axle with semi-trailing arm, auxiliary rubber springs and torsion bar stabiliser as standard
  • From 1973 on ribbed tail lights to reduce dirt accumulation
  • The 240 D 3.0 model becomes the first production car worldwide to feature a five-cylinder diesel engine
123 series (1975 to 1985)
  • Double-wishbone front suspension with zero scrub radius
  • Safety steering column with corrugated tube based on design by Béla Barényi
  • Station wagon with automatic hydropneumatic level control
  • The 300 TD Turbodiesel model (1980) is the first car on the German market to feature turbocharged diesel engine
  • Experiments with alternative drive systems: hydrogen, electric motor, liquefied gas
124 series (1984 to 1996)
  • Considerable improvement of cd value compared with 123 series and therefore a significant reduction in fuel consumption
  • First use of V8 engines in the E-Class (1991)
  • First large-scale use of four-valve technology with petrol and diesel engines
  • Shock absorber strut independent front suspension with anti-dive control; multi-link independent rear suspension
  • Automatically engaging 4MATIC four-wheel drive
210 series (1995 to 2003)
  • Electronic Traction System (ETS)
  • Direct-injection diesel engine, turbocharger and intercooler in the E 290 Turbodiesel model
  • 1997: new-generation 4MATIC as permanent all-wheel drive with ETS
  • 1998: diesel injection engines featuring common rail technology in the E-Class
211 series (since 2002)
  • Four-link front suspension; multi-link independent rear suspension mostly made of aluminium
  • Electrohydraulically controlled Sensotronic Brake Control (SBC™) system
  • Adaptive front airbags and two-stage belt force limiter featuring automatic front passenger weight classification
  • Four-cylinder engine with two balancer shafts in the E 220 CDI model
  • TWINPULSE system for mechanical supercharging in the E 200 KOMPRESSOR model

Mercedes Benz Heritage June

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24 June 1909 – 100 years ago:
Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft filed a registered design application for its trademark three-pointed star, adding the four-pointed star to its application four days later.
6 June 1919 – 90 years ago:
First issue of the Daimler-Werkzeitung newspaper. Edited by cultural philosopher Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy, it was aimed in particular at the workers and provided a perspective on the revised commercial thinking that took shape during the political and social upheavals following the First World War.
3 June 1934 – 75 years ago:
Start of the Silver Arrow era with the W 25 Grand Prix racing car. At its debut event, the International Eifel Race on the Nürburgring, Manfred von Brauchitsch won in record time – the first in a long succession of victories for the Silver Arrows.
29 June 1989 – 20 years ago:
Mercedes-Benz AG was founded as part of the new corporate structure. Werner Niefer was appointed Chairman of the Board of Management.

Other notable events:

17 June 1904 – 105 years ago: Three Mercedes 90 hp racing cars proved very successful at the fifth Gordon Bennett Race in the Taunus, finishing second, third and fifth.
4 June 1974 – 35 years ago: Daimler-Benz presented its newest experimental safety vehicle, the ESF 24, at the International ESV Conference in London.
12 June 1989 – 20 years ago: Two Sauber-Mercedes C9 cars scored a one-two win at the Le Mans 24-Hour Race in France – 37 years after the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupé took victory in the same race.

2010 E Sedan Pricing

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Mercedes-Benz has announced the base MSRP for the upcoming release of the 2010 E Sedan. 

E350 $48600
E550 $56300
(destination and delivery not included)

This is a great surprise.  Most manufactures raise the price on a new vehicle launch not lower it.