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Karl Benz gave us the first vehicle that we could describe as a car all the way back in 1885.
135 years later, the company that bears his name is still going strong, and is one the leading premium car makers in the world. But over the years it’s ploughed its profits back into developing technologies to make cars better in a myriad of ways, and many of those features have spread far beyond Mercedes.
Let’s then look at many of the most important things Mercedes did for the very first time in the automotive world on a production car:
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FIRST CAR: Benz Patent-Motorwagen (1886)
We can’t help but start here in 1886, when Karl Benz (1844-1929) gave us what is generally acknowledged as the world’s first motor car. Powered by a single-cylinder 954cc engine, it administered slightly less than the power of a single average horse, but with considerably less administrative overhead albeit with a lower top speed, of around 10mph.
Benz was greatly helped by his heiress wife Bertha (1849-1944); not only did she help finance the car, but also took it on the world’s first car journey in 1888 to drum up publicity. An ingenious mechanic, during the 121-mile journey she noticed the brakes were wearing, so she got a cobbler to nail some leather onto them - thus inventing the first brakepads.
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SUPERCHARGER: Mercedes (1921)
Power or rather lack of it was an enduring menace in the early decades of the car. Supercharging is an air compressor that enables each cycle of the engine to take in more oxygen, burn more fuel and output more power, even at relatively low-speed revolutions.
Though first developed in the 1880s, Mercedes became the first company to use the technology on a production car in its 6/25/40 hp and 10/40/65 hp (pictured) models. They were termed ‘Kompressor’ models, a name the company used until recently.
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EIGHT-SPEED MANUAL: Maybach DS8 (1931)
Unsurprisingly, 8-speed manual gearboxes are exceptionally rare today, and 7-speeders are not exactly common, but we got the former all the way back in 1931, as mated to an 8.0-litre V12 in the mighty Maybach Zeppelin DS8.
After becoming noted as a maker of powerful tank engines during WW2, including on the infamous Tiger, Maybach was acquired by Daimler-Benz in 1960.
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DIESEL: Mercedes-Benz 260D (1936)
Herr Rudolf Diesel developed the engine that bears his name in the 1890s, and the technology quickly proved its worth, especially in torque and efficiency terms. It was quickly deployed for use in ships and submarines, and the first diesel truck appeared in 1908.
Making the engine smaller and lighter proved a challenge, but car companies worked on the problem after World War One, with prototypes from Citroën, Saurer and Peugeot. But Mercedes launched the first proper diesel-powered production car with the 260D; equipped with a 2545cc 4-cylinder engine, it output 45bhp giving the car a respectable 59mph top speed. A total of 2000 were built until 1940, when the arrival of war put a stop to it.
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TURBODIESEL: Mercedes-Benz 300SD (1978)
The diesel engine represented another opportunity for Mercedes in the 1970s, this time because petrol had suddenly become very expensive and the inherent efficiency of diesel was appealing. But this time its diesel would come with a turbocharger to compensate for the inherent languidness, as first seen in the 300SD S-Class W116; the model was sold in the US only.
The engine was a 3.0-litre straight-five cylinder unit, and, despite the turbo, power was a mere 111bhp, with 168lb ft of torque. With America spooked by soaring fuel prices, the 25mpg 300 SD (30 miles-per-UK-gallon) impressed buyers, helping a more-than-decent 28,634 examples to be sold until 1980. The engine in more powerful form returned in the new W126 S-Class series which arrived that year; once again, it was sold in the US only, up to 1985.
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ELECTRONIC ANTI-LOCK BRAKES: Mercedes-Benz S-Class (1978)
Though mechanical anti-lock braking system (ABS) had been available in the 1960s, modern four-channel fully electronic ABS wasn’t available until 1978, when Mercedes offered it as an option on its range-topping S-Class W116.
This was more efficient and faster technology and rapidly eclipsed mechanical ABS. ABS has been mandatory on all new cars sold in the European Union since 2004; it became obligatory in the US on cars sold after September 1 2013. Simply put, ABS enables cars to stop more quickly, and if you need to stop quickly, stamp on the brakes as hard as possible – the ABS and (usually) other systems will do the rest.
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AUTOMATIC ROLLOVER BAR: Mercedes-Benz SL-Class (1989)
Convertibles have long attracted the attention of regulators, who worried about the fate of occupants in the event of a rollover situation. The prospect of an outright ban even led some manufacurers like Porsche to develop the ‘halfway house’ Targa-roof option on its 911.
Mercedes addressed the issue head-on when it launched its R129 SL convertible SL. A bar strong enough to support the full weight of the car (together with the windscreen pillar) would normally lie hidden behind the seats. If sensors detected a roll-over was imminent the spring-loaded bar would shoot up in 0.3 seconds, and would also deploy if the roof was up or a hard-top was in place.
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INSULATED GLAZING: Mercedes-Benz S-Class (1991)
A notable feature of the W140 Mercedes S-Class was that it featured insulating glazing - better known as double-pane glazing - as standard on its side windows, reducing significantly the road noise generated by the car’s thick tyres, and reducing condensation. It was later dropped as it increased weight and thus the fuel consumption of the car.
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ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL: Mercedes-Benz CL600 (1995)
Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and similarly named systems helps reduce crashes – they can rapidly detect a loss of control and brake wheels accordingly to counter oversteer (rear-wheel skidding) and understeer (front-wheel skidding). The first car to get it was the top-of-the-range Mercedes CL600.
In 1997, it was placed in the Mercedes A-Class, curing the model of unfortunate high speed handling dynamics as shown in its infamous failure of the Swedish ‘elk test’ that year. It’s believed that ESC and similar systems have saved tens of thousands of lives since introduction; it has been mandatory on all new passenger cars sold in the USA from the 2012 model year onwards and in the European Union from November 1 2014.
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BRAKE ASSIST: Mercedes-Benz S-Class (1996)
Modern cars with modern brakes and tyres in good condition can stop a car remarkably quickly, especially on dry roads. Many drivers in an emergency don’t press hard enough on the brakes when they need to, leading to otherwise avoidable accidents. To combat this, this new system developed by TRW detected panic braking and added maximum force on its own.
Mercedes fitted the technology as standard across its range in 1998, and the system became mandatory on new cars in the European Union in 2009.
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ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL: Mercedes-Benz S-Class (1998)
Cruise control is very useful, but less so in heavy traffic. Adaptive cruise control (ACC) uses radar and sometimes also camera technology to automatically adjust speed while keeping at a set distance from the car in front.
While some more basic systems were available earlier, the first car to feature a full system as we know it today was the Mercedes W220 S-Class, launched in 1998. The system shut itself down below around 20mph; in 2005 Mercedes upgraded the system to bring the car to a complete halt on its own, if need be.
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KEYLESS-GO: Mercedes S-Class (1998)
The W220 S-Class saw another notable advance that has since spread far and wide. Keyless-go enabled keys to be kept in the pocket or handbag; just go up to your car and open the door; get in, press the start button and you’re done.
A luxury feature, it saves a lot of rummaging, and helps avoid the occasional misfortune of dropping a car key down a drainage grate. The technology was originally developed by Germany’s VDO.
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ACTIVELY-CONTROLLED SUSPENSION: Mercedes-Benz CL-Class (1999)
The C215-generation Mercedes CL-Class ushered in the world’s first actively-controlled suspension system in 1999. Named Active Body Control (ABC), it used hydraulic cylinders to offset unwanted body motions such as the car leaning into a turn or the front end diving under heavy braking.
In 2013, Mercedes went further: it attached the system to a computer which was fed readings from a camera which scanned the road ahead. Operating up to 81mph, it could detect bumps and potholes and immediately adjust the suspension accordingly, smoothing the ride. Dubbed Magic Body Control, it was a pricey option on high-end versions of the 2013 Mercedes S-Class W222.
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MASSGAING SEATS: Mercedes-Benz S-Class (2000)
While Cadillac became the first company to make a production car with heated seats in 1966, massage seats took a while longer. They arrived on the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Cadillac DeVille at more or less the same time, in 2000.
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LANE-DEPARTURE WARNING: Mercedes-Benz Actros (2000)
Driver distraction, tiredness and other causes of cars moving inadvertently out of lane can cause terrible accidents. This technology issues an audible warning if it detects this happening, using cameras that scan white-lines marking out lanes and divide lines from oncoming traffic. The first production system was featured on Mercedes-Benz Actros commercial trucks in 2000. (Nissan was the first to fit it into a passenger car, with the Japan market only Cima F50 of 2001.)
Today such systems are becoming very common, and the most advanced systems will also supply steering torque to automatically correct the car’s course, and often then bring the car to a halt if it detects driver incapacity.
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AUTONOMOUS EMERGENCY BRAKING (AEB): Mercedes-Benz S-Class (2006)
Rear-ending accidents are one of the most common types of car crashes, and when speed is involved they can be life-threatening. The new Mercedes system launched in 2006 in the W221 S-Class and C216 CL-Class was the first of its kind fitted to a production car, and used two radars to detect an imminent collision.
Audible and visual warnings would sound, and if ignored partial braking would be activated. If still ignored, the system would automatically apply maximum brake force, helping to mitigate impact speed, the collateral effect of which is exponential. AEB has since become quite common, and all new cars will have to have it by law in the EU in 2021 and in the US in 2022.
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