110 years ago – 20 September 1900: Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft introduced the honeycomb radiator (German patent no. DRP 122 766). This was an important prerequisite for boosting output in vehicle engine design. Its basic principle remains unchanged to this day. Continue reading
Category Archives: News and Notes
Select Sport America
Last year I had the opportunity to sell a car to the President of Select Sport America, Søren Hansen. With me being a soccer fan, I was excited to learn about Select’s innovations to the sport of soccer while selling a car.
Select has a very different philosophy then other manufacturers. Each ball they produce is hand sewn. The founder, Egil Nielsen, found that by hand stitching a soccer ball that the ball retained its shape much better and that the cord was not a nuisance when kicking or heading.
In 1962, Select introduced one of the greatest inventions in the history of soccer balls – the 32 panel ball. Then in 1974, Select intorduced the first hand-sewn synthetic leather ball. This material quickly became the material of choice instead of real leather. Today the majority all balls are made of synthetic leather, regardless of brand.
Recently Søren contacted me about using a photo I had sent him for the 2011 product catalog. It’s a photo of my son playing with the soccer ball he gave me in the back yard. Needless to say I was honored by the request. When I mentioned it to my wife, the only thing she cared about was getting a copy of the catalog.
New 2011 Airstream Interstate
Our new Airstream Interstate 3500 has arrived. It is absolutely beautiful. Below is the link to the video taken by one of my associates.
Loyalty Accelerator August 2010
3 Payment Loyalty Accelerator
Any ML, R Class, S Class, CL, SL, CLS, GL or G Wagon with a First Class Lease or Walkaway Balloon Contract are eligible for 3 Loyalty payments in conjunction with a lease or finance of any New 2009, 2010, or 2011 vehicle.
5 Payment Loyalty Accelerator
Any C Class, E Class, CLK, or SLK with a First Class Lease or Walkaway Balloon Contract are eligible for 5 Loyalty payments in conjunction with a lease or purchase of any New 2009, 2010, or 2011 vehicle.
Over One Million C-Class Cars Delivered
Stuttgart – Around one million customers have bought a vehicle of the current C-Class production series since the market launch of the C-Class sedan in March 2007 and of the estate model in November 2007.
“The C-Class is our best-selling production series and therefore of great importance for Mercedes-Benz,” said Dr. Joachim Schmidt, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz Cars. “We are therefore especially pleased that the vehicle is so popular with our customers. In June the sedan was the best-selling vehicle in its comparative class worldwide. Despite last year’s weak market environment, sales of the sedan are currently four percent higher than those of the predecessor model during the same period since its market launch. The estate has also met with an outstanding response, with deliveries increasing by 20 percent in June.” Continue reading
Mercedes Heritage August 2010
125 years ago – 29 August 1885: Gottlieb Daimler protected his “riding car” with German Patent No. DRP 36 423, issued on 11 August 1886. The prototype, powered by a “gas or petroleum engine” with an output of 0.37 kW, was the world’s first motorcycle. In November, Daimler’s younger son Adolf undertook the first journey from Cannstatt to Untertürkheim, achieving speeds up to 12 km/h.
105 years ago – 11 – 17 August 1905: The first Herkomer Race, a
937-kilometre touring car competition across southern Germany, ended in a triple victory for Mercedes: Edgar Ladenburg, Hermann Weingand and Willy Pöge took the first three places in the general classification.
more about the Mercedes-Benz Motorsports History
937-kilometre touring car competition across southern Germany, ended in a triple victory for Mercedes: Edgar Ladenburg, Hermann Weingand and Willy Pöge took the first three places in the general classification.
more about the Mercedes-Benz Motorsports History
80 years ago – 9 – 10 August 1930: Rudolf Caracciola won the International Klausenpass Race in a Mercedes-Benz SSK, setting a new sports car record in the process.
more about the Mercedes-Benz Motorsports History
more about Rudolf Caracciola
more about the Mercedes-Benz Motorsports History
more about Rudolf Caracciola
65 years ago – August 1945: Production of the 4.5-tonne Mercedes-Benz L 4500 truck started up again at the Gaggenau plant. A total of 290 units were built by the end of the year, all in the simplest design. For example, they had a standard cab made of wood, no bumpers and no guide rods.
65 years ago – August 1945: The project group was set up for the Unimog, the “Universal-Motor-Gerät”. The original U 1 model was presented in 1947.
more about the Unimog History
more about the Unimog History
Continued Mercedes Growth – Up 25.7% for the year
Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) today reported June sales of 18,997 vehicles, an increase of 25.4% over June 2009 with a 25.7% increase on a year-to-date basis. 18, 269 passenger cars, light truck vehicles and 728 Sprinter vans are included in this total. Impressive gains were made in both the Mercedes-Benz passenger car and light-truck categories. The strongest performer for the month was the popular C-Class – the gateway to the Mercedes-Benz brand for younger as well as first-time Mercedes-Benz buyers – with sales of 5,563. Continue reading
Mercedes Heritage July 2010
80 years ago – 18 and 19 July 1930: Rudolf Caracciola won the Grand Prix of Ireland – and in so doing, the Irish Times Trophy – driving a Mercedes-Benz SSK. His average speed for the 480-kilometre course was 139 km/h. The SSK was an advanced development of the SS model; with its 7-litre displacement, the engine developed 125 kW without and 165 kW with supercharger.
80 years ago – July 1930: A special-production Mercedes-Benz “Nürburg” 460 was delivered to Pope Pius XI. It was the brand’s first “Popemobile”.
more about the Mercedes-Benz Popemobiles
more about the Mercedes-Benz Popemobiles
50 years ago – 27 July 1960: The supervisory board of
Daimler-Benz AG authorised the purchase of 1.5 million square metres of industrial premises at Wörth near Karlsruhe. The plan was to build a new truck assembly plant. Five years later, on 14 July 1965, the first truck assembled there came off the production line, a Mercedes-Benz LP 608.
Daimler-Benz AG authorised the purchase of 1.5 million square metres of industrial premises at Wörth near Karlsruhe. The plan was to build a new truck assembly plant. Five years later, on 14 July 1965, the first truck assembled there came off the production line, a Mercedes-Benz LP 608.
20 years ago – 18 July 1990: Following the ground-breaking ceremony performed by Werner Niefer, then Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz AG, the foundation stone was laid for the new Rastatt plant. The official opening took place in late 1992.