Daimler & Benz: The Complete History: The Birth and Evolution of the Mercedes-Benz

From the earliest workshop days to the grandest marque in the automotive world the story of one of the most important enterprises of the twentieth century comes alive in this complete history. The rich history of Daimler-Benz (now DaimlerChrysler) has its roots in the early experimentation with the use of the internal combustion engine by three men: Carl Benz Gottlieb Daimler and William Maybach. Benz working alone and Daimler and Maybach working together the two shops separated by a mere sixty miles in the late 1880s simultaneously laid the foundation of what would become the German automotive industry. At first there was competition between Benz & Cie. and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft as they engineered and styled the earliest motorwagens and began to develop markets for their products. These early efforts led to the establishment of an entire industry by the start of World War I. But the war and its aftermath devastated these two companies as it did the German economy overall. By the early 1920s it became apparent that the only way to survival was a merger and thus on June 29 1926 the stockholders of both companies gave approval to the new company Daimler-Benz which led directly to the birth of one of the worlds best-known brands: Mercedes-Benz. In the hands of noted automotive photographer author and editor Dennis Adler the history of the marque and the company unfolds through the decades as Mercedes-Benz advances in fame from the racing glory years to the present becoming the standard that all automakers strive to meet. With archival (many never before published) and the authors own photographs the beauty and power of the automobile comes alive from the earliest models to the first crop of twenty-first-century Mercedes-Benzes. It is a story of excellence that is in many ways unmatched in the history of any industry. Today as a global leader in design safety and overall excellence Mercedes-Benz continues to lead the way.