55 years ago, in August 1967, all Mercedes-Benz passenger cars from the W 108 to W 113 model series were fitted with a new safety steering system with telescopic steering column and impact absorber on the steering wheel. The steering was already designed in such a way that the steering column did not move directly towards the driver in the event of a severe frontal impact, with the steering gear moved as far back as possible. The components that can transfer forces into the vehicle interior in the event of a serious accident can now be moved into one another, which reduces the risk of injury; this applies to the steering column, the steering shaft and the steering wheel gearshift tube.
Safety research when no law required it
In addition to the telescopic steering column and the impact absorber, the company improved other safety details from the summer of 1967, including new door locks, child-proof door locks, protected and recessed controls on the dashboard, handles, armrests and window cranks made of flexible plastic, a brake indicator light and folding exterior mirrors.
When 110 km/h was still a record
Coincidence or not, exactly 110 years ago, on August 30 and 31, 1912, a new record was set. Ralph de Palma, winner of the Elgin Road Race in Elgin/Illinois, USA, set a new record with an average speed of more than 110 km/h in his private Mercedes 140 hp Grand Prix Type 1908, followed by Erwin Bergdoll with a Benz 150 hp.
"Driving a Mercedes, he won the Elgin National Trophy race and the free-for-all in the best time ever achieved on the Elgin course," according to a race report from 1912. Five years earlier, on July 27, 1907, Baron Pierre de Caters won the sixth Ardennes race over 600 kilometers in a Mercedes Grand Prix racing car developed by Paul Daimler with 120 hp after 6:29:10 hours and an average speed of 92.6 km/h.
The first German automobile club
125 years ago, on September 30, 1897, just eleven years after the invention of the automobile by Carl Benz in 1886, the first German automobile club was founded in Berlin. The founding members included Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler as well as another technology pioneer, Rudolf Diesel.
At the founding meeting, it was noted that, in view of the efforts in France, England and the United States of America, "the current state of the motor vehicle industry in Austria and Germany does not correspond to the level of development". Some manufacturers presented their vehicles on the occasion of the founding. The company Benz & Cie. from Mannheim was represented with the vehicles "Comfortable", "Victoria", "Break" and a "company car for delivery transportation".
