I’m going to cast my loyalties aside and admit it: Mercedes-Benz has been making some of Germany’s best cars for over a century.

Not just Germany but the whole world, for that matter. I don’t think that’s up for debate either, no matter how many cubic inches you like under the hood or how many waifu pillows you have in your bed.

It’s an opinion I’ve maintained for years, but it was really cemented during my visit to the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany last November.

After all, no other manufacturer can claim to be the one who invented the motor car, can they?

It’s incredible just how many legendary and as-new Mercedes-Benz icons are gathered under one roof, from the earliest examples of pick-up trucks to a trio of SLs and even a Sauber C9 as part of the motorsport display. The range of vehicles produced by Mercedes-Benz is simply astounding.

Speaking of motorsport, seeing the switch of Germany’s national racing colour from white to silver before my very eyes was a reminder of how much influence Mercedes-Benz has always had on the automotive world. ‘White Arrows’ does sound kind of cool, but the ‘Silver Arrows’ has much more of a ring to it.

Where else could you see a 6.9-litre V8 SEL parked next to an Argentine bus? Or how about a Mercedes-Benz Actros car transporter carrying an SEC, SE and 220 wagon on its back?

Mercedes-Benz has a tremendous reputation for both luxury and reliability the world-over.

Who’d have thought that Idi Amin and Carmela Soprano were both fond of the three-pointed star, eh?

And that’s before we even factor in the engineering powerhouse that is AMG. The foresight Mercedes-Benz had to purchase the well-known tuner was incredible, and it led to AMG creating a bonafide performance car range in house at Mercedes-Benz, leading to F1 domination.

How about Maybach? Being turned around from an all-but-forgotten brand into a genuine Rolls-Royce rival… then failing, admittedly, but once again being reborn as a hugely successful sub-brand under Mercedes-Maybach.

BMW purchasing Alpina comes to mind, but I can’t help think the Büchloe brand will simply become a trim level in the near future…

The highlights of my visit to the Mercedes-Benz Museum were the pre-war cars, especially the sporting models. I’ve seen the ridiculous amounts they’ve sold for at auction over the years, and their successes at events like the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, but it never made that much sense to me.

Brands such as Bugatti, Delahaye, Duesenberg and Hispano-Suiza have an incredible allure due to their reputation at the upper echelon of the automotive industry in its formative years. Mercedes-Benz, however, make vans and trucks and compact cars – but I was absolutely bewitched once I saw their early models in person.

Huge and imposing, with stunning curves from every angle and incredible details both inside and out. Standing next to them, I felt like a Hollywood star – or perhaps a Bond villain.

There’s an indescribable sense of quality that radiates from old Mercedes-Benz models. It’s almost as if every car in the museum was chiselled from granite or tungsten.

Let me put it to you this way. I was fortunate enough to be given a 560 SEC to use for a couple of months, and the experience has stayed with me. The steering was heavy, the doors even heavier, and the view over the bonnet was presidential. What I loved the most however were the air vents.

There’s no flimsy little knob to adjust them; instead you move the entire metal vent assembly up and down to direct air flow, and the plastic vanes have their own dedicated slide assembly.

If an air-vent can be so over-engineered, just think about how robust the cars used to be under the skin, eh?

Mario Christou
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www.mariochristou.world