Mercedes, Quality In A Car

When a car enthusiast thinks quality he often thinks Mercedes. Speed, status, luxury, reliability and dependability all go with the Mercedes name. Interestingly enough, the most popular car in Germany for use as a taxicab is the Mercedes. The light yellow color isn't as bright as American taxi cabs or as noticeable and many American soldiers have bought and brought back used German taxi cab Mercedes cars, with no one every realizing they were driving a former cab.

The Mercedes, officially known as the Mercedes-Benz is the oldest automobile manufacturer in the world. Internal combustion engine inventors Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler in southwestern Germany teamed up with Wilhelm Mayback, inventory of the four stroke engine. They built Daimler cars and in the early 1900's they were raced in Austria by Emil Jellinek who named the cars he raced after his daughter, Mercedes. He gained the exclusive rights to sell Daimler cars in the USA, France, Belgium and Austria-Hungary. He branded the cars with the Mercedes name. 

The Mercedes logo is a three pointed silver star in a circle symbolizing the company's production of engines for land, sea and air travel. During World War II the company produced vehicles including aircraft for the German government. Today Mercedes n addition to quality luxury cars builds trucks and buses in common use throughout Europe.

In the 1960's the pop star Janis Joplin wrote and made popular a song in which she sang “Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz, my friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends." The song was originally intended to be a parody of materialism, but it became so popular that Mercedes has used it in its advertising, and even their competitor BMW has used the song, with the commercial character raising his eyebrows at the words.

In racing Mercedes has a long history. In the early 1900's the Mercedes Simplex was a popular racing car. In 1914 a Mercedes won the French Grand Prix. In 1952 Mercedes, recovered from the war, returned to racing with a gull winged racing car and won the LeMans 24 hour competition. In 1994 a car with a Mercedes engine won the Indianapolis 500. Today Mercedes automobiles are well respected as racing vehicles.

In 1998 Chrysler Corporation and the Mercedes parent company, Daimler-Benz merged. Now known as Daimler-Chrysler, the company is headquarted in Stuttgart, Germany with large facilities in Detroit and manufacturing plants in several locations throughout the world. They produce cars and trucks under the brand names Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Plymouth, Mercedes-Benz, Smart and Mayback, as well as others. The Chrysler Group also produces parts under the Mopar brand name. Mercedes also once held a large state in the Japanese car company Mitsubishi but has sold its interest.

Well known today as a manufacturer of quality trucks, the truck building history of the Mercedes organization actually predates their car manufacturing. Gottlieb Daimler built the first truck in the world in 1896. The truck more closely resembled a cart. He and Karl Benz were strong competitors for truck sales, and Benz worked on variations of trucks that he called delivery vehicles but that we would call vans today. Over the years the Mercedes company has acquired many truck manufacturing companies. In 1911 Mercedes bought the Suddeutsche Auomobile-fabrik, or South German Automotive factory. Later they acquired Auto Union, Hanomag-Henschel , Krupp and American Freightliner. 

Mercedes has long been a name known for quality and Mercedes cars are status symbols to many, signifying that the owner has wealth and has arrived at the top of his or her profession. Some Mercedes cars are converted into limousines which seems only natural for a car known for luxury.

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